


Only A Heartbeat Away

by kailyrnew



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AND IT IS, F/M, I thought this was going to fluff, Ladybug - Freeform, Let Adrien eat 2k18, Like so far, Miraculous Ladybug - Freeform, Possibly some DJWifi? I think?, So far from canon, but also the angst, chat noir - Freeform, fake marriage au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8984338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kailyrnew/pseuds/kailyrnew
Summary: Adrien and Marinette have to marry in order to save the Agreste Company. Will it work out? Or will it crash and burn? Or perhaps...the one that you have been waiting for is only a heartbeat away





	1. Marinette Dupain-Cheng

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey, Guys! I'm back! So this is a new fanfic I'm starting, and I hope you like it. I want to dedicate this story to a really good friend of mine, without her, I would have lost the drive to write a long time ago. She inspires me and supports me, and she's literally the best thing ever. Thanks, Dora! --From Boots

Anyways, this story will be mostly fluff, so enjoy!

Adrien hurried across hallways, trying to get to his father's office quickly. It wasn't often that he was called into his father's office anymore; not now that he was a senior member in his father's company. The only time his father talked to him was with the other senior members in the conference room.

Adrien sighed, and shook his head a bit, as he passed other people rushing here and there, also trying to please his father. 

It seems not much had changed from his Lycee days, as a high school student. 

_Still afraid, still taking orders, still letting him control your life._ He thought bitterly. 

It's not that he didn't want to take over his father's company, because he did. Over these past few years, after graduating high school, he had learned so much. He had gotten to travel all across the world, and learn new things about fashion, about managing a company, about new cultures and people, and about how much work every single person put into this company. He felt proud to be working alongside them and he wanted their approval. Every one knew that he would, some day, take over the company. But Adrien didn't just want to inherit the company, he wanted to earn it; he wanted to deserve being in charge of a company. He was done with getting everything just because "his daddy got it for him". So he had started from the bottom, just like everyone else, and worked his way up. And here he was, seven years later, and one of the youngest senior board members, at 25. 

He was proud of his achievements, but the one person he was still longing for approval from, only met him with cold indifference. 

Speaking of cold indifference, Adrien thought, as he stood outside the looming, closed doors that led to his father's office. 

He took a deep breath, adopted a neutral expression, and knocked on the door. 

"You may enter." Adrien could almost see the disappointment and disdain seep through the cracks through the door, as his father bade him entry. 

Adrien steeled his spine, and pushed the doors open. A clean, put together man sitting in a clean, put together desk with clean, put together papers and clean, put together pens; was the disheartening sight that greeted Adrien, when he stepped into the room. 

He closed the doors behind him, and silently made his way to the highly uncomfortable, but oh-so-fashionable, black chairs that were positioned in front of his father's desk. Before sitting down, he gave a small nod to Natalie, his father's assistant who stood off to the side of his father. As Adrien sat down, he thought he saw a look of concern flit across Natalie's features, but when he looked again all he saw was professional neutrality. Adrien sat in the chair, perched like the well trained bird that he was; back straight, shoulders back, head up, hands folded, and legs tucked gracefully. A well trained, caged bird. 

"You wanted to speak with me, Father?" He questioned politely. 

His father sat back in his high back chair, coolly regarding him, causing Adrien's skin to prickle with nervousness. 

"You know that I will one day leave my entire company to you." 

Yes, fa--" Adrien started before Gabriel interrupted. 

"Don't interrupt, Adrien," Gabriel held up a hand, prepared for the comment that it was he, who had interrupted Adrien, "I will leave my company to you, however you are no designer." 

Oh. So that was it. 

Adrien started to worry, doubts that had been circling in his mind for years, were starting to come to head. It was true that he was a senior member on his father's board, but he didn't design clothing. He worked in the technical and financial aspect. It wasn't that he didn't have an eye for fashion, he was a model after all, but creating designs on his own...he just couldn't do it. He could see clothing, from a technical and CEO standpoint, such as if the garment was high quality and if a collection would make it on the runway. As a model, he could tell when a garment was fashionable and if pieces looked good together, but no matter how he tried he could not come up with original, unique designs. He knew how to dress and smile politely but he didn't know how to create pieces of art through fabrics, patterns and stitching. He could not design anything himself. If he were to take over his father's company, he would take over all of it. Including Gabriel's position of head designer. This was obviously going to be a problem.

Gabriel continued on, oblivious to his son's panic. 

"...you are no designer. There is also the issue, that our biggest rivals the Moneau's, would love nothing more than to destroy the Agreste company. And due to your inexperience, it could very well happen. " Gabriel finished calmly.

Natalie stepped up, her stylus moving rapidly, as she started to spew off information. 

"The Moneau's sales have gone up 40% in the last two years, and they are the second most prestigious fashion company and line in all of France. First being Agreste, of course. However, critics reviewing them are all positive, calling them the next big thing and recent polls indicate that the French public are beginning to prefer them over Agreste. If our line isn't successful in the next Fashion week for Spring/ Summer this September, our company will begin to decline." 

"Exactly, thank you, Natalie." Gabriel said as Natalie stepped back. 

"I understand, but what does this have to do with me? How am I supposed to do anything? The only thing I can do is increase our advertisements and maybe send some advertisements to other countries to try and get our name circulating, or maybe social medi--" 

"Again, Adrien, I wasn't finished." Gabriel interrupted coldly. "As we were saying, we have to overcome Moneau in the Spring/Summer Fashion week. But to do so, we will require assistance from our top designers, as not only will they be assisting my line but they will also be creating their own to walk the runway, while representing Agreste." 

"Right,so--"Adrien almost sighed when he was interrupted yet again. 

"Please, Adrien. So our esteemed designers are invaluable to us, making them a target for Moneau. Moneau has already tried coerce our designers into designing for them. However, there is one designer that I am extremely worried about. She is our best designer, and so far, we've been able to protect her from Moneau's eyes, but it won't be long before they find out about her. Which brings me to the point of you, Adrien. She is my best designer, and you need a designer in order to inherit my company--" 

"So, you're saying that she will be my partner?" Adrien asked dubiously, he would have never thought his father would ever offer part of his company to someone outside of his family. 

"Not exactly, I can't leave my company to someone not part of the Agreste family." 

"So...?" Adrien hated how long winded his father could be sometimes, it took him forever to get to the point. 

"So, you will marry her." 

_Eh? Marry?_ His mind went blank as his face froze into the polite expression it had been wearing through this entire meeting. 

"Tying her to the Agreste name through marriage, will protect both her and you. And it also helps clear up the issue of leaving the company to you, if the company is left to you both, the CEO and the top designer. The transition and business from there on out, should be much smoother." Natalie smoothly cut in, sensing Adrien's rising panic and trying to diffuse it with logic.

It wasn't working. 

"The wedding will be held three months from now, in July. We will have to deal with the press, of course. But I'm sure Natalie and your normal publicity team can handle it. You wi---"

"Wait, a moment! Don't I get any say in this?" Adrien exclaimed, trying to be heard for once. 

""Adrien, this is for the good of the company." Gabriel finished coldly. 

"But I've never even met this girl! What the hell is this, the dark ages? Are you going to marry me off like some...like some...Disney princess?" He spluttered indignantly. 

"Don't be so dramatic, Adrien. Besides, if I recall, you have met this girl before. She is a very hard worker, I'm sure you'll get along fine." Gabriel's harsh gaze almost didn't leave room for arguing. 

Almost. 

"Okay, so maybe I've met her for five seconds when you introduced us, at some time or another, but we're talking about marriage, father! The person who you spend you're entire life with!" Adrien's voice was rising, and he saw the danger flashing in his father's eyes, but at this point he was beyond caring. How dare his father try and control every aspect of his life! How could his father just decide that he was going to marry someone, what about what he wanted? What if he wanted to marry someone because he loved her? Why did he always have to sacrifice himself, his wants and needs, for the good of the company? A company that wasn't even his yet!

His father's sigh interrupted his internal rant, "Adrien, I'm not saying you have to stay married to her. After the company is stable again and the danger of the Moneau's has died down, probably in a couple of years or so, and after I retire, we can stage a divorce." His father stated as if it were obvious. 

"It's a fake marriage. You want me to marry this girl, act as if I love her long enough so the Agreste company is stable, act as if I love her long enough for her to be paraded around in front of the press, act as if I love this girl long enough so that you can pass on your company to us so that she has the Agreste name, then you want me to divorce her, just fling her aside." Adrien finished coldly. 

"Adrien, she knows very well that this marriage is only for the sake of the company and that it will not last forever. You're not "flinging her aside", you will just be co-operating with her as a partner, instead of partnering with her as husband and wife. But she will still be considered an Agreste, it all works out." Natalie cut in again, sensing the danger between the two Agreste men. 

"And this girl, this designer, she agrees with all of this?" 

"Yes, now, Adrien, I have work to do. Natalie will arrange a meeting between you two and will plan the rest of your schedule. Natalie, please escort him out." 

"Fathe-" Adrien started to stand up out of his chair, not finished "discussing" this topic with his father. He was cut off, by gentle hands pulling him towards the door. 

"Come along, Adrien." Natalie said gently. Adrien, shocked, at Natalie's uncharacteristic gentle demeanor, realized that their was no arguing with this. His father's mind was made up. Adrien was going to be married to a complete stranger. 

Adrien sagged and let Natalie lead him out of Gabriel's office and into her own. 

_What kind of person agrees to marry a complete stranger?_ he wondered. _One who wants part of the Agreste company,_ He thought bitterly.

"It took a lot of convincing, you know." Natalie started as she looked over her hands at the bitter boy sitting in front of her. 

"What?" 

"It took a lot of convincing for her to agree. She said that she didn't want to force you to marry her, just to protect her from the Moneau's. Your father didn't even tell her about the inheriting part until after she agreed. She didn't show it, but I had a feeling that she was outraged that your father wanted to link you two together for the sake of her having the Agreste name, so that she could inherit the company. You see, Adrien, your father had never even mentioned to her that he wanted to leave her part of the company. So she was shocked that he was leaving her part of the company and I'm sure she was somewhat excited, but I'm also sure that she was insulted that he refused to use her name. He actually told her, that he couldn't sully the Agreste company, with a common name." 

"Then she should have said no, if he was that awful to her." Adrien muttered. 

"She had already agreed, besides, she looks up to him and he is her boss. She was probably, a little afraid that if she spoke out towards him, that her job would be in danger." 

Both, Adrien and Natalie, were silent for a while. Before Natalie finally broke the silence. 

"It won't be so bad, Adrien. And like your father said, its not forever." Natalie said with a bit of desperation and pity in her voice. 

"I know but its just...marriage, Natalie. It's something so sacred and important, and my father is just throwing all that away to save his ass. I always thought that that was one aspect of my life he couldn't touch. He couldn't decide who I would marry, I could marry whoever I want. I know, it was a childish delusion, just a silly dream. But I'm twenty five years old! You would think by now, my father would think that I was able to handle leading my own life; but here I am still under his thumb. And I really do feel bad for this girl. I'm used to having my life completely ruined by my father, but she isn't." He said miserably. "Speaking of her, who is she, Natalie, and when do I get to meet her?" 

"Well, actually, Adrien, I think you already know her." Natalie said slowly.

"My father said something similar, but I don't know any designers in this company personally. And I've never met the same one more than twice, how am I supposed to know her?"He really didn't understand why no one would tell him who this girl was. Why was everyone dancing around the subject? 

"Well, I suppose you could say that you knew her, once. I'm not sure if you two are still acquainted." 

Knew? Adrien started going back through all the people he has met over the years, but why would any of them be designers for his father's company? Models, producers, make up artists, designers with their own companies, nothing fit. His mind was jerked back into the conversation, when Natalie continued. 

"I assume you remember Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

Marinette.

Dupain.

Cheng.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

Suddenly happy, color-filled memories exploded within Adrien. Memories of a boy with headphones, and a girl, practically glued to her phone and a shy, stuttering, cute, pig-tailed girl who put everyone before herself. A girl whose big, beautiful, blue eyes, crinkled when she laughed. A girl who he had not seen in a long, long time. A friend. A friend, with a smile that made you want to smile too, no matter what you were feeling. A friend that always tried her best. A friend that helped him so many times. A friend who was always there for him. A friend with whom he had lost touch with after he left high school. A friend whom he missed. A friend, a girl, a designer, named Marinette. 

He was marrying Marinette Dupain-Cheng.


	2. Le Chat Cafe Noir

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

A name that circulated in Adrien's head for days after it was abruptly forced into his inner workings. Memories floated in and out of his conscious and unconscious brain, as he tried to forge an image of this girl who he once knew. 

A girl he was going to marry. 

Adrien sat at his desk, staring at his paperwork, only half completed. 

I'm going to marry Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

Adrien buried his face in his hands. The prospect of marrying someone he once knew was little better than marrying a stranger. He hadn't seen her since they graduated from high school, so many what ifs detonated within all his doubts and anxieties.

What if she changed? What if she wasn't the sweet, caring girl he knew in high school? What if the fashion industry had changed her? What if she really did only agree to marry him for part of his father's company? No, no, Marinette would never...right? But what if I'm not good enough for her? Can I really be a good husband to her? How can I pretend to love her without hurting her? What if I hurt her? Does she even care? Does she still like to bake? She did like to bake, right? Does she still hang out with Alya? Does she still like the color pink? Did she ever even like the color pink? Does she--

Adrien's eyes widen as he was struck with a sudden thought. 

Did he ever really know Marinette at all? Did he ever even know the girl who sat behind him? Who blushed and couldn't get two words out around him? The girl whom he only knew from observations?

*Knock* *Knock* 

He was jerked out of his musings by a loud knock on his door. 

"Adrien?" Natalie's voice hesitated as her head poked into his office. 

Adrien sighed heavily and lifted his face from his hands. 

"Come on in, Natalie."

"I just came to inform you that Miss Dupain-Cheng had to cancel the meeting on Sunday due to work issues," _She already flaked,_ Adrien thought bitterly. 

"But she has proposed that if you aren't busy, you two could meet now for lunch." Natalie finished, standing silently awaiting his reply. 

_Now? I thought I had until Sunday to prepare, I'm not ready now! I can't, I'm no--_

"Sure, Natalie. Please tell her to choose the place and I'll meet her there in half an hour." 

"Alright, Adrien." Natalie's voice and face, neutral, as she walked out of the office. Adrien waited until he could no longer hear the clack of her heels against the tiles to bury his face into his hands once more. He let out a bitter laugh that if anyone would have heard, they would have feared for his sanity. 

It seemed he had a lunch date to meet his fiancée. 

 

Adrien's leg bounced as he looked out the window of the limo. For the third time, he took off his suit jacket and tie in the limo, before looking at it again, trying to decide what would look best. 

"Adrien, calm down," Natalie said in a firm voice as she glanced over at him in annoyance. Her gaze softened before she continued; "Leave the jacket and tie off, and unbutton the top two buttons. It looks best." 

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye before unbuttoning the top two buttons on his white dress shirt. He continued to stare out the window as the silence in the car began to become smothering. 

"Natalie--" Adrien started before he was interrupted. 

"We here, monsieur. " The driver called back. Adrien turned to face his impending doom. A small cafe, squeezed between two incredibly important, but unnecessary to mention, businesses. It looked a little strange, with its red brick contrasting with the cream colored stone surrounding it. Yet somehow, if you didn't look hard enough, you would never had known it was there. There was a small table out front, with two chairs, and a sign directly above it. The sign read Le Chat Café Noir.

Adrien stepped out of the car and took several deep breaths as he stared up at the black cat entwined on the sign. The cat's green eyes seemed to flash and sparkle, even as the sun was beginning to retreat behind the darkening clouds. 

_C'mon, Agreste. You're a model for heaven's sakes. You've met thousands of people and have endured thousands of uncomfortable conversations! You can endure one lunch date with the girl who you will marry in three months_. 

He took another deep breath, before letting the courage from his internal pep talk wash over him, and opened the door. 

He heard a bell ring, and looked around the small cafe. There was a counter at the back of the cafe, with a few tables and chairs in neat lines, parallel to the counter, perhaps ten in all. What took up most of the ground space was the couches, reclining chairs and coffee tables, that were randomly strewn across the room; some placed against the walls, some in circles, some even in isolation against a window. Books and magazines filled book shelves and magazine racks. Everything was placed in an unconcerned matter, as if this place was out of reach of the frightening phenomenal that was reality. Adrien couldn't help but close his eyes and breathe in. Though messy and disorganized, this place felt warm and safe. No father to control him, no superiors to berate him, no thoughts to torment him. 

Breathe. In. and. Out. 

Away from people, away from the world; here he could just breathe. 

"Adrien?" A voice knocked him out of his introspection, he whirled around his eyes settling on the reason why he was here in the first place. 

She was wearing strappy nude heels, a navy pencil skirt that ended just above the knee. Tucked into the navy skirt, was a light blue button down blouse; with puff sleeves that barely touched the middle of her upper arm, a small ruffle on either side of the small, blue buttons and a rounded collar. A small, red belt tied the look together as it rested at her waist. As Adrien's eyes traveled upwards he skipped over her face, instead focusing on the bun she had tied her hair up in. Finally, his eyes came to rest on her face. Pale, pink lips. Small, button nose. Dark eyebrows. And then, of course, blue eyes. Blue eyes full of hidden eddies and pools, full of stars that he knew he could never fathom into constellations, eyes full of lights and darks, emotions roiling, changing and turning. 

"Adrien?" The voice asked again, a bit more hesitant and doubtful. 

Adrien's face burned as he realized he had been staring at her for a good minute. 

_Shit! She probably thinks I was checking her out!_

"M-Marinette! How have yo-you been?" He managed to stutter out. 

To his surprise, she giggled. 

"I've been good, would you like to sit down?" She asked as she gestured to a table with a jacket and bag neatly sitting next to a chair. 

"I guess we're both a bit nervous, huh?" Marinette looked up at Adrien as they moved to sit down. 

Adrien sank into his chair. "Was it that obvious?" 

"A little. The only thing that gave you away was the stuttering and the blank, lost look in your eye." Marinette giggled again as Adrien groaned into his hands. "Its okay, though, this is all...a bit overwhelming." She finished in a soft voice while staring at her hands. 

"Marinette...are you really okay with all of this?" Adrien lowered his tone to match hers and leaned in closer, almost as if he was afraid someone was going to overhear.

Marinette looked up from where she was staring at her hands and in a steady voice, replied; 

"Yes." 

Adrien instantly tried to argue; to tell her that she shouldn't be okay with being used, that she shouldn't be okay with letting someone else make life choices for her but he was interrupted by what she said next. 

"I...this marriage is for protection. That is why I agreed to it. And not only my own protection but also for yours." Marinette said, not meeting his eyes. 

"What do you mean?" He looked at her incredulously. 

"The Monteau's want to destroy the Agreste company and you are the heir." She said simply

"Yeah, but what is marriage going to do about that?" He exclaimed, the anger festering within him causing his voice to sound harsher than he had intended. 

"Sorry." He muttered, glancing around at the other customers of the quiet cafe. 

"Marriage isn't really going to do anything. This is only a publicity ploy, by marrying the two most dangerous people in the Agreste company...we're biting our thumbs at them." She waved her hand as if to dismiss the subject as trivial.

"But sti--did you just make a Shakespeare reference?" 

"Look, Adrien, I know this seems wrong. Trust me ,when I say its not exactly how I pictured my wedding day, and I know that its been a long time since we've seen each other, we're practically strangers." Marinette avoided his eyes as her tone turned quiet. She sighed a bit before meeting his eyes once again. He drew back a bit as he saw the cold steel of determination, unwavering throughout the blue. "But this is to make sure no one else gets hurt in this petty fight between fashion companies... even if we're the only ones to get hurt." She finished softly, looking at him between her eyelashes with calm acceptance. 

"But why do we have to be the ones to get hurt?" Adrien whispered as he tried to lose himself in her calm. 

"Who knows? All we can do now is play along and hope that it'll somehow end up alright." Marinette said as she leaned back in her chair. Staring up at the ceiling, she seemed...pensive, almost.

Adrien snorted. "I've been doing that my whole life, I thought by the time I was twenty-five I would have some control over the ending." She gave him a sad smile. 

"Life doesn't work that way." 

"I know... I know..." He paused before continuing, "So we're getting married."

"Yup." 

An awkward silence followed, where two adults avoided eyes and shifted in their seats. 

"Geez," Marinette layed a hand over her eyes as a smile started to pull her lips upwards, "I feel like I'm back in high school. Were we always this awkward?" 

"It does feel like we're fifteen again. Speaking of high school, what have you been doing these last couple years? I haven't seen you since graduation." Adrien felt a small smile start as he watched the girl across from him. 

They talked about her fashion career, about her going to fashion and design school, interning at Agreste and finally making her way up to one of the top designers. And they talked about him, how he had gone overseas and studied with his father to prepare him for taking over the company, about his modeling jobs and the places and people he had seen. 

"How is company work? I hear you're already a senior member." Marinette asked, her fingers crossed underneath her chin. 

He made a face and she winced. 

"That bad, huh?" 

"It's not neccessarily bad, its just...boring. It's mostly paper work and deciding how, when, and who to advertise to." He sighed before looking up to see her raised eyebrows. "I-It's not like I don't want to take over the company, because I do! And I don't want to seem ungrateful, I've had so many amazing opportunities because of the company with amazing people! I just---"

"Adrien, its okay, I get it. Its just not how you pictured your life by now and you're kinda disappointed?" She paused as he nodded. " Sometimes, I can't help but think like that too. By twenty-five, I expected to have my own company and not still be underneath superiors. I thought I could create my own niche in the world, with my own designs. But as Alya is still always reminding me, its never too late, you just have to stop being a coward and do something about it."

"Did she really say coward?" Adrien asked after a moment in a disbelieving voice. 

Marinette laughed as she responded; "No, she told me to stop being a little bitch and grow some balls, but that's not exactly the most appropriate advice to give someone." 

Adrien laughed too, something about Marinette always made him happy and light. Whenever she laughed or smiled...that was one thing that hadn't changed. 

"So you still talk to Alya?" He asked eagerly. 

"Yeah, we're still really good friends. She's a journalist for the newspaper now, but is still a reporter at heart. She's actually doing research for a story in South Africa, right now. Nino went with her as her photographer." 

"I'd heard from Nino that he was going on a job, but he didn't give me the specifics. Are they still together?" He said, as he leaned forward, hoping to get another smile out of Marinette.

Marinette grinned and shrugged. "Who knows? I only video chat her every couple months." 

"Re--"

*beep* 

"Ah," Marinette looked down at her phone before looking up with a gentle, if not a little sad, smile. " I have to get back to work." 

"Right, sorry I kept you so long." Adrien apologized as he got up.

"It's fine! Don't worry, I'm happy I got to reconnect with an old friend." She said with another smile he couldn't quite read. 

Adrien returned her smile and helped her into her jacket. Marinette grabbed her purse as Adrien walked her to the door of the cafe. But as he held the door open, he then discovered the downpour that had gone unnoticed. 

"Oh." He said simply. 

"Oh." She echoed. 

"Well, it looks like I'm walking in the rain," Marinette said as she smiled up brightly at him. "We should have more lunch dates before the wedding, see you later, Adrien." 

Adrien watched as she stepped out into the rain before he was struck with an idea. 

"Wait!" He grabbed her hand, pulling her back under the protection of the awning. Marinette looked up at him questioningly. He let go of her hand and sprinted to the car that was waiting for him, he threw a "Wait there!" over his shoulder as he reached the car. He jumbled around in the bottom until he found what he was looking for. He walked back triumphantly, and with a happy grin, he opened an umbrella and held it out for Marinette to take. 

Marinette's eyes widened as she looked at the scene that met her. Laughing, she returned Adrien's grin with one of her own.

"You do know you're soaked now, right?" 

"But now you won't be." He said gently. 

Her cheeks blossomed pink as she reached out to take the umbrella. 

"You know, we became friends in sort of the same way." She started, just as softly as he had been. "You offered me an umbrella, while telling me something incredibly sweet, just like you did now." 

She looked up and hesitated for a minute before shaking her head and smiled. Leaning forward and standing on tip toe, she pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you, Adrien." 

Marinette stepped out into the rain, rain droplets running down the black umbrella before sliding off to explode on the sidewalk. 

"I'll see you soon." She said over her shoulder as she disappeared into the crowd. 

Adrien watched her go, letting the rain soak him through. 

_Maybe...just maybe, this won't be so bad._ He thought as, he headed back to the car. 

It seems not everything had changed, after all these years it seems that Marinette was still a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this fic is probably just a collection of a bunch of random head canons such as Adrien being a nervous wreck and Marinette mellowing out as they age. We'll see how this story goes, so far it hasn't gone as plan but when does anything ever? Anyways, have a good whatever! 
> 
> Love, Cutesylittledemon.


	3. Kiss Me Like You Want To Love Me

"I can't get married today, Nathalie!" 

"Adrien," Natalie sighed in exasperation, "This is just a dress rehearsal, you aren't even getting married yet. All you have to do is go through the ceremony." 

"I can't do it, Nathalie, I can't marry Marinette, we barely know each other!" Adrien exclaimed, panicked.

"Adrien!" Nathalie said sharply. "Deal with your internal struggles later, please! We have a tight schedule to keep and Marinette is skipping her lunch break for this rehearsal! Now please pull yourself together!" 

Ah, yes schedules. Adrien thought bitterly. Conflicting schedules was the reason that he had not seen Marinette since that one coffee date. Conflicting schedules was the reason that he was none closer to knowing who he was marrying. Conflicting schedules was the reason that he was so nervous about practicing the marriage ceremony. The fact that the wedding was in two weeks, had absolutely nothing to do with his panicking, it was all the conflicting schedules. 

 

...

"...I ask you to join hands. I'd like you to think of the hands that you are holding. These are the hands of your best friend, promising to love you. These are hands that will give you strength and tenderness. These are the hands that will give you love and wipe away your tears of sorrow. These are the hands that guide you on your journey. These hands that are joined..." 

As the priest performed the ceremony of the hands, Adrien blushed at the fact that his hands trembled as he gathered Marinette's hands in his. He breathed in and out, trying not to think about the words as he held her hands, every vow untrue. These hands weren't those of his best friend, they weren't the hands of his love. He didn't know every single line on Marinette's hand, he has never traced them for hours upon hours, after each tracing falling more and more in love with every single detail about her. He didn't know how her fingers fit into his, if they were awkward and clumsy or if they were strong and sure. He didn't know these hands, so how can these be the hands that are joined together today? With his head filled with heartbreaking thoughts, he almost missed Marinette squeezing his hand. Adrien's eyes widened as he realized her hands were shaking too. The priest continued talking about hands and bonds, but Adrien just pushed everything out of his mind and focused the the warmth radiating from Marinette's hands. 

"May I have the rings?"The priest asked and upon receiving them, he continued on. "Adrien, as you place the ring on Marinette's finger, please repeat after me; I give you this ring to wear. "

"I give you this ring to wear. " Adrien repeated, panic starting to set in. 

"As a symbol of my abiding love, " 

"As a symbol of my abiding love," _Oh, no. What if I drop the ring?_

"My eternal faith, and my undying devotion." 

"My eternal faith, and my undying devotion." Adrien hoped that no one could hear the shake of his voice or the lie of his words. 

"It is an outward reminder of our inner unity." 

It is an outward reminder of our inner unity." He finished in a hurry, quickly sliding the ring on Marinette's finger. He took a deep breath and nearly sagged in place as Marinette copied the same procedure. 

...

"By the power vested in me..." _Yeah, yeah._ Adrien thought. _Yada yada yada. How long can a ceremony be?_ "You are now..." _This is taking so long._ "...man and wife." _Finally._

"You may kiss the bride." 

_Shit. shit. I can't believe I forgot ab...._

Adrien heard the priest say the words. And he saw the small smile Marinette gave him right before she let her eyes slid from his. He knew everyone was waiting for him to move, to do something, to kiss her. But looking at her, he could see her sad smile. He could see that she knew exactly what this marriage was. He could see that she knew that everything he just vowed was a lie. He could see that she knew that he didn't love her. He could see it all, and he could do nothing about it. It was unfair, that this girl had to marry someone who didn't love her. Because this girl deserved so much more. This was a fact Adrien knew. He knew that he didn't even know Marinette anymore, he didn't know what kind of person she was now, her interests and dislikes, her hands; he knew that that he didn't know her at all but what little he did know, is that she didn't deserve this. He knew that she deserved the world, yet she was settling for him and his father and the company she never wanted. She was compromising her happiness, no,her entire life, to entertain his father's wishes. She was giving up everything. 

"I won't do it." 

"Adrien?" Marinette looked up questioningly. Her eyebrows drawing together a bit, and her nose scrunching. Adrien, had to admit, it would be endearing it it weren't for the situation.

"I won't let you do this, Marinette, and the only way to do that is for me to refuse. I'm sorry, but I can't." He said quietly, squeezing her hands before letting them go. 

"Adrien! We don't have time for this! Kiss her, and then we're done! I'll even make sure to schedule the rest of the day to deal with whatever you need to deal with. We just need to finish this ceremony. Please, Adrien." Nathalie's shrill voice left off in a beg.

Adrien opened his mouth, ready to spew out whatever argument it took to stop this wedding, when he felt small hands pushing on his chest. 

"Nathalie, could you give us a minute?" Marinette said. 

Nathalie threw her hands up. "Sure! Because we have all the time in the world!" 

Marinette looked back, her blue eyes begging. 

"Please, Nathalie?" 

Nathalie sighed. 

"Fine, three minutes." 

"Thanks, Nathalie!" Marinette beamed at her. "Now, you ,come here." She continued to push Adrien over to the corner of the chancel, almost reaching the edge before stopping. Letting one hand drop, she let the other travel up until it rested on his shoulder. 

"Adrien..." 

" Marinette, I can't let you do this. You're giving up who knows how much of your life for my father's happiness. It's not fair to you, you deserve so much more." Adrien finished, his eyes downcast. He refused to let this happen. He let his green eyes meet her blue when he felt pressure on his shoulder. 

"Adrien," Marinette started determinedly. "I already told you, I am not marrying you because of your father or his plans. I am marrying you to protect people I care about, including you. Now we are going back up to stand at the alter and you are going to kiss me and stop giving Nathalie an ulcer." 

"But--" 

"No, buts. I am a big girl and I make my own decisions. That means you do not get to decide what you let me do. I know exactly what I'm doing, I know exactly what I'm giving up." She said harshly before sighing. She continued in a softer voice. "But I know it's worth it, you're worth it." 

"Okay, I get that but I still can't marry you knowing that you won't be happy. I can't marry you knowing that everything I vow to you is a lie. I can't kiss you knowing that I don't love you and you don't love me, Marinette." His eyes dropped down to her black pumps, red painted toes peeping out of the small hole at the toe. He glanced at his right shoulder, feeling the slight pressure as her other hand came to rest opposite of her right. He looked back at her face. And suddenly, he couldn't look away. 

Her eyes were blazing, conflicted emotions blurred with honesty. Infusing with blues of light and dark shades, twirling with hopes and fears; dreams and nightmares; love and hate. Adrien had seen fires before; white, orange, yellow, but he never knew that a blue that rivaled the ocean and the raindrops and the ice, could ever burn so fiercely or so brightly as the blue that was her eyes. 

He couldn't tear his gaze away, and he didn't want to. 

"Then kiss me like you want me to be happy. Kiss me like everything you vow is true. Kiss me, like you want to love me." 

Adrien could hear the intensity in her voice and he could hear the sincerity of her words. His heart constricted as she leaned closer, her voice getting impossibly quieter as she said;

"And I shall do the same." 

And as suddenly as it began, it was over. Marinette was back to a reasonable distance, her eyes restful and tranquil. The air no longer charged. Contrasting to the fire threatening to consume him a moment ago, now there was only the comfortable icy cold that jerked Adrien back to reality.

"Deal, Adrien?" Marinette said with a sweet, innocent smile. 

Adrien felt a smile start to form on his face. Honestly, this girl. It seems over the years, her effect on him hadn't changed, but only increased. 

"Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter but I hope its still okay!


	4. The Promise

Marinette's gaze shook with exhaustion as she put more pins in the dress she was currently making. A pale white dress, meant to imitate a swan; with a long, flowing skirt that looked like it was spilling down from the waist; and small slips of fabrics, cut to look like wings, to cover the breasts. It was a very minimal dress, with just enough censorship to please conventionalists but with the simplistic philosophy of the graceful swan. Made out of chiffon, organdie and tulle fabrics, known for their sheerness and light weight; it was also wide-spread knowledge that they were a bitch to work with. The fabrics, gorgeously transparent, was also so thin that it made sewing near impossible. To make it worse, this particular dress would be nearly transparent on the model so having to layer the fabrics to make certain parts unvisible while still trying to maintain the transparent and flowy look of the dress...

Marinette sighed as she raised up from the crouching position she had been in to pin. Feeling her muscles ache and burn and her legs turn to pins and needles, her entire body yelling for her to go home and sleep; so she decided to work on another infuriating white dress. 

Her wedding dress. 

As a designer, she refused to be married in anything other than perfection...even if this marriage was only a prolonged publicity ploy. 

The dress she designed was a backless dress made of a thick, white fabric. Lace crawling up from where it covered her cleavage in a plunging neckline, made a unconventional halter top. The lace wrapped around her neck, with a delicate button connecting the collar. The lace dropped down from her neck in a v-shape until it found her waist; where a wide ribbon, serving as a belt, wrapping around to tie in a bow at the base of her back. From the ribbon, the rich white fabric spilled down to her feet. Carefully ebbing away from the tight cut of the bodice, causing the skirt to have the slightest bell shape. 

She was currently in the process of sewing little jewels into the lace, a small, extremely difficult, detail that she knew would make all the difference. 

The dress was beautiful. Impeccable workmanship and skill. Flawless. 

But it wasn't hers. 

Or more like, it shouldn't be hers. This dress, this wedding...Adrien....she couldn't help but feel as if this was very wrong. Consumed with her thoughts, she didn't pay attention to the jewel she was sewing. 

"Ouch!" Marinette exclaimed as she jerked her finger back to see the droplet of blood beginning to form at the tip of her finger. 

"It's out of the ordinary for you to prick yourself, Miss Dupain-Cheng." A voice, emotionless and professionally distant, answered her cry of pain. 

Marinette whirled around to see Gabriel Agreste, standing poised, with his hands behind his back. Her stomach sinking and dread welling up to sit, lodged in her throat but she forced herself to smile. 

"Good evening, Monsieur Agreste." 

"And to you, Miss Dupain-Cheng." Gabriel responded as he began to circle around her workshop. His attentive eye sweeping over her designs and works-in-progress. Although he hadn't said anything; his cold and disapproving demeanor soaked through her sweater, causing her to shiver. 

"These are very skillful works, Miss Dupain-Cheng." 

"Thank you, sir." 

"Ah, is this you wedding dress?" 

Yes, sir." 

And the following bridesmaid's dresses?" 

Yes." 

He crawled around the space once more, pausing in front of her wedding dress. His hand hesitant, almost as if he was afraid, when he came up to touch the fabric of the skirt. 

"You know, Miss Dupain-Cheng...I really do appreciate what you're doing for us." 

Marinette made some noncommittal noises as she ducked back into working on her wedding dress, knowing Mr. Agreste wouldn't mind. 

"I know this probably isn't how you pictured you would get married. And trust me, when I say that you deserve of all you dream. You're one of my best designers after all." 

Gabriel paused again, still stiff and poised. Marinette saw indecision cross his face for the first time in her life. 

"Miss Dupain-Cheng....Marinette...I, well, er, I mean..." 

"Mr. Agreste, if there was something you would like to say, go ahead." She tried to say as gently as she could with pins in her mouth. 

Marinette watched out of the corner of her eye, as she saw one of the most iconic and influential men of fashion, slump onto her workbench. Looking like the pure image of defeat, with his face in his hands and his constructed walls crumbling. 

"I--The company is failing, as well as my health. I need to pass it on to Adrien, but if things keep going like they are, there won't be an Agreste Fashion company. Adrien...his future is in this company, your future is in this company.All the employees... I-I don't know what to do anymore." 

"With all due respect, sir, Adriens' and my future do not depend on this company." Marinette said as she spat pins in her hands. "I choose what I make of my future. And it may be time for you to let Adrien." 

"The boy doesn't know what he wants, he has no idea what the world is really like!" 

"Yes, that's true, but that's because he has never been allowed to." Marinette managed to squeak out in a mildly dignified manner. She took a deep breath as she could literally feel Gabriel's head jerk up. She watched in surprise as Gabriel slumped again. 

"You may be right, but its too late now. I've tried to manage his life, so it didn't end up like mine. The world is harsh, emotions are just a false diversion in the cold reality. I wanted to try to protect him after I realized...." 

"Tried to protect him, or tried to protect you, sir?" 

Gabriel didn't answer. His head still buried in his hands. 

"I don't know." 

With a simple phrase, Marinette had her answer. She nodded grimly, though unseen to the fashion head. 

"I did not agree to the marriage for the company. I didn't agree to save it, or even to save you, Mr. Agreste. I agreed because I know that this could hurt people I care about. I'm guessing you haven't told Adrien the extent the Monteau's are willing to go?" Her question was met with silence. "You haven't told him about how black this rivalry really is?" Another silence gave her an answer. " I know that the Monteau's are not afraid of bribery, black mailing, threats and sabatoge. I know that the Monteau's put everyone in danger. As well as Adrien. This wedding, as fake and petty as it is, will ultimately protect those people right?" She asked, her voice hardening. 

"That is the idea, yes." Gabriel responded, straightening up. 

"Then I will marry whoever I have to, to keep them safe. I no longer tolerate anyone pushing me around, and if you want to protect Adrien as much as you say you do, I would advise you to do the same, Mr. Agreste." 

Gabriel looked up at her, something unreadable in his eyes. 

"Maybe this marriage is something arranged by fate, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I think you and Adrien could both benefit from learning from each other." 

Gabriel stood and turned towards the door; donning his frigid and indifferent personality once more. 

"I expect the full, completed designs of your winter line on my desk and exhibits of your current progress by Monday." 

"Yes, sir." She replied cheerily. Marinette was relieved to hear Gabriel back to his old, uncaring self. 

"Oh, and Marinette?" Gabriel called back over his shoulder as he left her workspace. 

She made a muffled sound as she had pins in her mouth again. 

"Your wedding dress is lovely." 

 

 

Adrien collapsed on his bed in exhaustion. Letters, numbers and wedding colors seemed to swim in front of his eyes. But keeping his eyes open was a much better option than closing them because the alternative....left him thinking of Marinette. 

Marinette and her gentle acceptance. 

Marinette and her calm composure. 

Marinette and her understanding mannerism. 

Fuck.

It infuriated him. Why wasn't she more upset about all of this? Why was she just playing the game by the rules? When she never has before? Why did she no longer have the courage to challenge things that weren't right? 

_You only want her to stand up and do what you can't._ His subconscious whispered. _But you don't know her, and maybe you never have._

He made a pitiful noise as his thoughts turned miserable.The wedding was tomorrow, and he was no where near ready. 

Consumed with his thoughts, he drug himself out of his bed and began to clean his en suite apartment. If he still had to live with his dad, he at least wanted some place to call his own. Restlessly cleaning and just making a bigger mess than before, Adrien threw himself back onto his bed, only to repeat what he knew would become a vicious cycle. With his thoughts ripping his mind and sanity apart and his body confused with the desire to move and the desire to stay still; he felt himself being pulled apart into pieces. Pieces he didn't have(and never has) any control over. 

Picking up his phone to scroll through social media, trying shamelessly to distract himself but only found that the ever occurring emails popping up to be just as stressful. Adrien sighed and closed out of his social media, and opened up his contacts instead. He scrolled down to the M's until he found Marinette. Staring at her name and number, he wondered (for the umpteenth time) what his future held. What their future held.

Him and Marinette. Marinette and him. 

He sighed again, contenting himself to click out and going back to surfing social media restlessly, when his thumb accidentally hit the call button. 

Adrien didn't realize he could still squeal like a teenaged girl, but as his (bad) luck would have it, he learned quite a few things that night. 

He danced around his room in a full frenzied panic, trying to push the end button, and praying that she didn't pick up. 

"Hello?" 

Shit. 

He dropped the phone.

He stared at the phone for a minute, frozen in both fear and the pure ridiculousness of the situation. 

"Hello? Adrien?" 

_You have to answer. You called her after all. Just pick up the phone and say hello._

His hands shook as he reached down to pick up the phone and hold it to his ear. 

_C'mon, Agreste, you can do this. Its just a little phone call. Sure for the past year or so, you've only taken business calls. And sure, you haven't acutally had a personal phone call in years since Nino hasn' gotten any service at his job sites. But you got this, Agreste....WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU KIDDING? YOU CAN'T DO THIS! HANG UP! TEXT HER IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! EMERGENCY PROCEDURES PEOPLE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT THIS IS NO--_

"Hello, Marinette." 

"Hello, Adrien." He could hear amusement as well as confusion lacing her voice through the phone. 

"I'm sure you're wondering why I am calling you so late." His voice professional, as if he was talking to a client or a business. 

_That's right, Adrien you can do this._

"Well, I must say, it has crossed my mind." The amused lilt in her voice told Adrien that he hadn't completely screwed things up. Yet. 

There was a pause, Marinette obviously waiting for him to continue. 

"Um..." 

Oh yes, Adrien Agreste, was the picture of eloquence. 

"Adrien...are you nervous? About tomorrow?" He could hear the hesitancy in her voice, her uncertainty. He had made things terribly awkward between them, so now he had to try and fix it. After all, they were getting married. 

He pushed out the breath he was holding. Laying back down on his bed, he tried to craft together all of what he wanted to say. 

"Yes." Ah yes, brilliant. 

The line was quiet again. Just as he was about to elaborate, her voice filled the line. 

"You know, if you really hate the idea of marrying me, we don't have too. I'm sure we can figure something else out if you really don't want to marry me. I don't w--" 

"Marinette," He interjected quietly, " Its not necessarily that I don't want to marry you. Its just...I'm just really done having my life controlled. An arranged marriage... I always thought that, maybe, my father would allow me to pick who I marry. I never thought he would go so far as to micromanage who I marry as well." 

At the silence of Marinette, Adrien's eyes widened as he realized how offensive that came across as. He immediately backpedaled; 

"Er...n-not that I me-meant, that, that you aren't a w-wonderful girl to m-marry. And you-ou' re gor-gorgeous, Marinette! And amaz-zing, b-b-but I only meant--" He was cut off by her laughter. Bewildered by her reaction, Adrien could only manage to make stuttering noises into the phone. In between bouts of laughter, he could make out; 

"I never would have thought," guffaws of laughter, "that the famous model...Adrien Agreste..." more fits of warm laughing, "would be stuttering... over a phone call with me." 

Adrien pouted as she continued to laugh, seeming unable to stop now that she had started. 

"Hey! Its not that funny!" 

"Yes, it is!" She managed through her giggles.

"Nuh uh." If every asked, he would never admit to pouting and arguing. 

"Oh god, Adrien Agreste, did not just nuh uh me like he was eight." 

He tried as hard as he could to keep pouting, but her uncontrollable laughter was infectious, and soon he was chortling along with her. As they climbed down from their giggling high, Marinette was the first one to attempt to get back on topic. 

"Honestly, quit giggling Adrien, I'm trying to be serious. I mean it now....you said you would stop!" They dissolved into a fit of hysterics once more before finally managing to control themselves. 

"Honestly, I'm a little nervous about the wedding as well. You're not the only one who pictured this day a little differently." 

That statement caused his heart to squeeze, her voice had underlying traces of irony that he knew from experience, disguised a much uglier emotion. 

"Why did you agree to the wedding, Marinette?" He asked, all traces of hilarity gone. 

"...I..I already told you, remember? Its to protect people I care about." 

"Marinette, both you and I, know that's not a good enough reason to marry someone. And I know that to even consider this stupid ploy, you would have to have really good reasons." 

"I really do want to protect the people I care about, just not really from a petty fight between fashion companies. This is something so much bigger...Adrien, you've been sheltered you entire life. These...incidents...with the Moneau's is no different. I'm not really supposed to be telling you this but..." Adrien could hear her sigh through the phone. "Adrien, if this was something as simple as a company trying to recruit designers, you know you're father wouldn't be going though this much trouble. You're smart, it'd be near impossible if you didn't at least think something else was going on right?" 

"Well, I've had some theories." He muttered. 

"Yeah, well, as much as I hate to say it, you're theories may be more correct than anyone would like. These Moneau's...sure, they started trying to recruit people but after so many people said no...well, let's just say no one expected how severe the backlash was. Threats, black mail...one of our designers was even kidnapped and held captive for a few hours.Of course, the incident was hushed up in the police department. The Moneau's aren't below bribes after all...Everyone's terrified, Adrien. No one is really sure how far the Moneau's will go...I have friends here, I'm scared for them...I don't know what could happen to them. And there's also the issue of you..." 

"What do you mean "the issue of me?" Adrien interrupted. The nauseating feeling sitting in his stomach increasing. 

"Well..., Mr. Agreste plans on retiring soon right? And the company will go to you... and me, sort of." 

"Yeah, that's the plan." 

"Well, you're already in a lot of danger being the heir and all. And I am a fairly good designer-"

"You're the best Marinette, say it how it is." Adrien interrupted again, growing incredibly frustrated. Why was everyone always dancing around this subject?

"Anyways, together we make a powerful and dangerous combination. The heir to the Agreste company, who is a model with financial and technical expertise, who also knows the company inside and out; paired with a designer praised for her uniqueness and ability to create new trends...it could call for a huge comeback of the Agreste Fashion Company. A comeback could manage to cause the Agreste Line to dominate Paris' fashion again...it's insane really. The Moneau's are scared, and people who are scared can act recklessly. " 

"Then why the fuck are we provoking them?" Adrien wondered out loud. 

"Our union would make sure that the Agreste Company wouldn't fail--"She started, her tone slow, prepared for him to interrupt again. 

"Ah I forgot, its all about the company." He muttered darkly. 

"Well if the company fails, so do a lot of jobs, so it does make sense." Marinette rationalized.

Adrien made a noncommittal noise before he perked up, a realization had just struck him. 

"But this plan, of making the company stable...couldn't that just be done with us being partners?" 

"Well yes," She said, her tone carrying the hints of irony he heard before, "But then I wouldn't carry the Agreste name, and the company absolutely can not be sullied with a common name like Dupain-Cheng." Her voice growing cold and distant in her best imitation of Gabriel Agreste.

Adrien snorted. He had to admit, it was pretty good; 

"Well that's insulting." 

Marinette sniggered before her tone turned serious again; 

"There is one good reason for us to get married instead or just partnering; if we get married, we become the main targets and the Moneau's sights will be focused primarily on us. If we fall, so does the Agreste Company. For us to be married, it protects everyone else." 

Adrien went silent for a few minutes, trying to process everything Marinette just told him. 

"Why couldn't they just tell me all of that before?" He whispered into his hand. 

"They wanted to try and protect you as long as they could." Marinette whispered back. 

"I'm 25 years old! I don't need to be protected anymore!" He protested, voice pushed near to its breaking point with years worth of neglect and hurt. 

"I know, Adrien." Again, her quiet, understanding tone was back. Didn't this girl ever get angry?

He sighed. He knew he shouldn't be taking out his father's bad parenting on her. She didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve any of this. 

"You don't deserve this, Marinette. You don't deserve to be forced to become a target. You should have you dream and someone who cares so much about you that he never wants to let go." 

"Maybe so, but so do you, Adrien." There was no hesitance in her voice now. Adrien could almost feel her powerful gaze riveting him from within. 

"But that's not going to happen, is it?" He whispered, afraid of the answer he already knew. But, as what often occurred with Marinette, she surprised him. 

"Maybe it will," Her voice soft, hopeful, " Maybe life will somehow work out." 

"You're very optimistic, you know that?" He said as he groaned into his hands. He was rewarded with a warm laugh again. 

"Both a gift and a curse, I am told." 

"By who? You're mom or Alya?" He teased.

"Both." He could almost picture the grin on her face. They shared another laugh, the once awkward silence now comfortable. He looked at the clock and sighed. It seems sighing was the only reasonable reaction he could conjure up concerning his life. 

"Well, its getting late, Marinette. I'll see you tomorrow at the altar?" 

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, my wedding dress is quite exquisite and was a bitch to make, so there is no way I'm backing out now." He could hear the light tease on her voice, but could also hear the unwavering resolve in it too. 

" Hey, Adrien?" The hesitancy from the start of the conversation creeping back into her voice. 

"Hmm?" Adrien was starting to finally feel sleepy. His hmm more of a defense mechanism than an actual answer. 

"I'm still going to keep my promise." 

Although she couldn't see, she managed to put the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. 

"Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I imagined all the fluff for this story in my head, but actually writing it down made me realize that I had to actually have a plot to make it all make sense. *sigh*


	5. The Comfort of A Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So quick note, anything in bolded parenthesis **(example: Like this)** you can totally disregard...this is what happens when I don't have an editor that doesn't allow me to get away with crap like this. I'm sorry, but not especially, so the comments stayed. This chapter gets kind of heavy so call it comedic relief, or the author's outlet for bitter sarcasm and wittiness that she cannot fully express during the school day, or just call it notes. Anyways, just what's in the **bolded** parenthesis.

Adrien's wedding day went by in a blur. He vaguely remembered waking up, showering and eating. He remembered getting dressed and heading out the door, phone vibrating aggressively **(may be read as agreste-vely)** as he got in the car to go the church. There, he knew, he was fussed over and put into the too hot **(for you)** tux for hours. Then he was stuck in a little room where he paced and practiced his lines until they came to fetch him. He knew that they walked him up and stood him at the alter, but he could not tell you what the color of the carpet was. And he knew that for quite some time he stood at the alter watching people he never knew filing in. He saw Mrs. Dupain-Cheng come in, giving him a gigantic smile before sitting down in the front row. He remembered how he felt the ever present guilt gnawing at his heart again. He heard a clock chime five, the wedding was an hour late. He heard paparazzi twitter, cameras held at ready, prepared to shoot at any moment. His head spun as music began to play and everyone turned, a little cousin of Marinette's in a pink dress came first. He watched as relatives on hers passed as flower girls, the ring bearer, brides maids, the maid of honor and finally the bride. 

Mr. Dupain-Cheng walked her in, the proud expression gracing his features was hard to miss. (Another pang to Adrien's heart.) And beside him, walked a creature in silk and lace. Marinette looked stunning, but that was no surprise to Adrien. Even as she looked like a celestial goddess floating down the aisle; Adrien had always known, from days long ago passed, that Marinette was beautiful. He felt her eyes on him, and like the coward that he was, he let his gaze drop to admire the dress. 

It was clear that Marinette designed the dress; it was ethereal. Delicate lace formed a halter neckline and crept down her chest to meet two mirrored strips of fabrics coming up to cover the tips of her breasts. From those tips, the white silk plunged into a deep V. The V stopped at her waist, where it was met by a strip of ribbon. The skirt clung to her hips, following the natural line to create the slightest of bell shapes. Crystals along the lace and embroidery of the skirt, twinkled out in the fading light coming through stain glass windows. 

Adrien started to count her steps towards him. She would meet him in ten steps. In seven. In five. 

At three steps he somehow found the courage to look up. Her hair was curled and pinned and twisted this way and that, creating an elaborate updo. Contrasting the dark color in her hair, were red and white roses holding the gossamer veil billowing around until it ended at her shoulders. 

Two steps. He let his eyes wander over her face. He saw her strong jawline. Her lips painted a light pink, curled into a soft smile. Her cheeks hinting at roses. He saw the sprinkling of faint freckles decorating her nose, as if an artist had accidentally flicked the stars across an unsuspecting canvas. He saw her forehead hidden by swooping side bangs. 

One step. Finally he dared to look into her eyes. He saw blue accentuated by dark eyelashes and light eyeliner. He saw the black of her pupils and the trenches of blues. He saw the compassion and determination he had seen before. But today he saw something new; he saw the fear he felt mirrored in her eyes. He felt her fingers tremble as her father handed her off. He could see the way she shook under the lace she wore like a suit of armor. And as they turned to face each other, he truly saw her for who she was; human. Through his reminiscing he nearly missed it, but as he pulled his attention back to her, he saw her smile widen. 

And as Adrien listened to the ceremony and said his vows and promises and leaned in to kiss his bride, he smiled back. 

 

 

Adrien sat ungainly on the bed. The wedding ceremony, and the equally excruciatingly awkward wedding reception that followed was done. But now that it had ended, Adrien couldn't help but feel as if it hadn't lasted long enough. With hands on his bouncing knees, he looked everywhere except the closed bathroom door. Behind the seemingly innocent door, his wife was changing into her pajamas. And after she had changed, she could be coming to bed; to sleep; next to him. 

He took a shaky breath, and buried his face in his hands. 

Its not that he was dreading sleeping with her. But it had been years since he had something as intimate as sharing part of his personal space and sleeping next to someone. It had been since..., well that doesn't matter.New distressing thoughts jolted Adrien out of his self pitying ruminating suddenly; 

_What if I snore really loud? Or what if I accidentally roll over and hit her in the face? What if I fart in my sleep? What if I suddenly get a boner?_

That last thought made his stomach clench in panic. Thinking back to all the romance novels he had ever read and all the cheesy chick flicks he had ever watched, he remembered what normally happened during the wedding night. His entire face flushed as he remembered that normal couples didn't just ~sleep~ during the first night when they were, (legally) for the first time, united in mind, soul, heart and....body. He gulped. _Oh my god, what if she thinks I expect something from her?_ The sudden thought made his stomach turn sour. 

_What is she wants...? Are we going to...? I-I've kissed her twice, I'm not ready!_

Adrien got up and started pacing, his face appearing to permanently be a scarlet, ruddy mess. 

_Surely Marinette doesn't think that I expect that from her right? Surely she doesn't think that I want that from her right now, just because we're married. Does she want that? Is she the type of person who doesn't mind doing that with whomever? With no feelings or strings attatched? Marinette's not that type of person, right? Not that there is anything wrong if she is! I'm not slut shaming her but I'm sure she's experienced, I mean, look at her, but what if she isn't? If we do...that...will she laugh at my inexperience? Will she even want to do it after she finds out I'm a virgin? Does she even want to do it?If she wants to do that...I g-guess I could, I want to wait until we get to know each other better but if she wants to...But what if she doesn't but thinks I do?! I mean I'm sure that's what she thinks, but what if she's as scared as I am? Is she...is she preparing herself right now? Is she forcing herself to be okay with this? Is she trying to force herself just because we're married now? Is she willing to sacrifice herself just for the needs of this company?_

That last question, though a bit off topic, had been swirling around in his brain since the very beginning. The acidic thought burning and eating away at his rationality. Marinette had given him an answer to the question already, he knew, unfavorable as the answer was; but he just couldn't help but feel as if Marinette didn't realize what she was giving up. She didn't realize that she was essentially selling her life away. Her freedom. 

Could one person really be that selfless? Could be that unafraid? 

To sacrifice herself; her dreams; her hopes; her happiness; to save others? Others who she hadn't even met, hadn't even cared about? 

To give everything, to a stranger, for the sake of others? 

Adrien smiled sadly to himself. _She reminds me of the superheroes I used to read about in comic books._ He remembered how he always looked up to those heroes. How he used to blindly believe that the world was a good place, that selfless people existed, that people who cared about the well-being of strangers existed...how even a forgotten little boy, could maybe do something somewhat meritorious. But those dreams had died with the little boy and never had his subconscious entertained such fallacies again...until maybe now. 

He stood up from where he had sunk down onto the mattress. 

Adrien is no hero, that much is clear; he is too damaged, too cynical, too destructive. But Marinette...

Marinette may just be a superhero; who is self-sacrificing, who no one ever knows; no one ever recognizes; and who never gains any recognition for all she does. Never does she ask for anything in return, sickeningly noble and just and good. Maybe Marinette is a superhero, maybe she's isn't. But Adrien knew one thing for sure; Marinette may be prepared to throw everything away to save a pathetic excuse of a man who will place her name on a gravestone, commemorating a lie and disillusioned ownership, and to save a company and everyone going down with it; but there was no way in hell that he was going to let her crash and burn for his sake, no matter how far he fell. 

If Marinette was going to give her light to everyone else, he would give her his; to fill in the agonizing, destructive cracks where her light was forcing its way through. He may not be selfless, he may not be brave enough to become a hero like her, to give himself to others completely; but he could become her second. Someone to bandage the self- mutilating wounds she inflicted on herself, the blood staining others gloved hands that they easily peel away and discard. To heal the cuts she made herself, with strangers cold fingers pressing against her wrists; their words sweetly ghosting against her skin in encouragement; her heart split and crumbling so the stranger's hearts may still beat in their chest.

Adrien is no hero. Self-preservation a habit he just couldn't quit (much like Marinette's, only on the opposite end of the spectrum). But perhaps, he could give all the self he has preserved (and will) to her. Adrien could not devote himself to the greater good, but he would devote himself to her; and maybe, just maybe, be able to feel that a no matter how broken, damaged and cynical; a little boy can also give some light. 

Adrien's incredibly cheesy (and incredibly, suddenly, very dark) thoughts, motivated him as he took purposeful steps towards the now seemingly flimsy bathroom door. His fist spurred on by courage he never knew he possessed. He knocked. 

"Marinette?" 

"I'll be out in a minute, Adrien. You can go ahead and go to bed." 

While her words were reasonably calm; her shaking voice told Adrien everything he needed to know. He blew out his breath and set his head against the door as he contemplated how to phrase his thoughts. 

"Marinette...I'm not...I'm not expected anything from you," He paused before going on, "I mean, I know that we're married and I know what normally happens, but I'm not expecting that. That doesn't mean that I don't want to! I mean, I don't! Not yet! But its not because you're n-not pretty! You're gorgeous! And it's not that I'm not attracted to you! And if you want to, I'm not shaming you! I just wanna wait, but if you really want--" His babbling was cut off by her giggles. His head jerking forward as the door swung open. 

His heart broke as he saw Marinette. She was wearing a loose, cream colored, baby-doll top, with matching, puffy, shorts. Her hair was loose, curling around her bare shoulders. And on her face she wore a small smile, with tears gathered in her eyes. 

"Sorry." She said softly, dropping her gaze. Even if she couldn't see, he returned her small smile with one of his own.

Adrien inched forward, and gently laid his hand on her head. He felt Marinette's hands come up, fingertips lightly resting on the space right below his chest. 

"It's alright. You don't need to apologize. We're fine. **(pause for dramatic effect)** We're fine." **(Nailed it)**

They stayed there for a minute, allowing relief and unnamed emotions to saturate them. 

Eventually, they separated and made their way to their own sides of the bed. Adrien watched as Marinette got into the bed and wormed her way under the blankets. He waited until he was sure she was comfortable before he switched off the lamp on the bedside table. Surrounded in darkness, Adrien himself, wormed his way underneath the blankets. Placing one hand under his head, he settled back and stared up at the ceiling. Before long he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and start to close. 

Nearly asleep, he startled as he found a small hand hesitantly slip into his. 

"Hey, Adrien?" Marinette's earlier hesitancy edging into her voice as well. 

"Yeah?" He tightened his fingers around hers as he responded. 

"What's your favorite color?" 

He chuckled before answering. "Green. What's yours?" 

"Pink." 

He made a noncommittal noise as his fingers interlaced with hers. 

"Hey, Adrien?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Thank you." 

At that, Adrien, rolled over on his shoulder (still holding her hand) to face her. He heard her take in a deep breath and hold it, obviously expecting the worse. His eyes had adjusting to the dark and he saw her silhouette still. He paused, hesitant, before leaning over, pushing back her hair and pressing a light kiss to her forehead. 

"I swear to you, Marinette, I will never hurt you. Never, ever. So if I ever do something that hurts you or makes you uncomfortable, tell me and I won't ever do it again. Okay?" He waited until she nodded before he continued. "I don't care what my dad wants or what the press wants or even what I want; as long as you're not okay with it, I won't do it." 

With that he squeezed her hand and returned to his previous position of lying at his back. He felt Marinette return the pressure, feeling her hand shake and heard her quiet crying. Stroking the back of her hand, he continued staring at the ceiling. His heart breaking knowing that he couldn't comfort her because even though he was her husband, it would still be the comfort of a stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CUTE, AWKWARD FLUFF! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? WHAT IS THIS ANGST *flailing hands and wails* I'm sorry, this ending is not what I planned. And can I just say that I do not understand! (Anyone get that reference?) I'll try and update next weekend, but I am back in school now so I may not be able to write as often as I'd like. Again, I'm sorry. 
> 
> Love, 
> 
> Cutesylittledemon


	6. Plants and Towels

As sunlight streamed into his bedroom, Adrien felt a sharp pain digging into his ribs. The stabbing pain remedied only by a surprising warmth surrounding it. Half asleep, he groggily opened his eyes, expecting to find his phone or some other object that he left in the bed when he fell asleep. His mind jerked his body awake, to find a small figure curled up at his side. 

Adrien's heart raced with panic, in his sleepiness, not understanding why there was another person sleeping next to him. 

_Marinette._ His brain supplied. 

Oh right, he had gotten married yesterday. Marinette, his wife, was sleeping next to him. 

He blew out a breath only to suck it back in; trying to calm his heart beat. The hysteria draining from his body as he relaxed back into the bed. Shifting, Adrien tried his best to not wake Marinette as he moved into a more comfortable position where a spine wasn't jabbing into his side. He held his breath as he moved, only letting it out when he realized that she wasn't going to wake up. 

He continued this process of small, insignificant movements until he laid on his side; Marinette's back barely touching his stomach. Raising his head up onto one hand, Adrien lost himself in thought, finger coming up to absentmindedly play with a strand of dark hair that curled between Marinette and him on the bed. 

_I wonder if I used to do the same thing to Mom, when I was little. She always used to complain about my sharp elbows and knees..._ A nostalgic smile found its way on his cheeks. It seemed that was one thing that still hasn't changed; Marinette always found ways to remind him of his mother. Not that Adrien minded; he liked being reminded that someone once loved him, that he was once happy. Besides, at least when he remembered his mom, he could see her face again. 

He realizes how sad that sounds, which is why he never told anyone about how he felt. They always expected him to feel bitter about how she's no longer here. But what they didn't realize was that; yes, Adrien is sad that she is gone and his current emotional state was pitying; but when he flash backed to a happier time...he only felt happy, perhaps a bit nostalgic. He never blamed his mom for her death. At least she left him joyous memories that allowed him to look back upon them when the world no longer held any color for him. 

Perhaps that's why Marinette always reminded him of his mom...Marinette was once his color after all. 

Thinking about that, he flashed back to his Lycee days. A time of smiles and laughter. A time of a birthday party with blue scarves; A time of getting his ass beaten in video games; A time of cheering on a friend during a race; A time of a movie turning to horror; A time of a long lost book and games of Simon Says, of perfume and rock music, of pink high heels and ruined soup, of toy dolls and the zoo, of knights and dark cupids, of copycats and robots, or derby hats and smartphones, of mimes and mummies, of a blog and headphones, of umbrellas and rain. 

Times where modeling and pretty faces were only a sliver in the great swirl of colors. 

Through all of his reminiscing, Adrien didn't see Marinette's breathing change. He didn't see her body start to shift. He didn't even see her turn over on her back to watch Adrien play with one of her dark curls. 

"Good morning." 

Adrien's body jerked in surprise, his hand slipping from under his cheek causing for his face to plant into his pillow. 

"Mmph, guoof moring." 

He heard her giggle and picked his head up in time to watch her get up and head to the bathroom. Groaning at his stupidity, he dragged himself up and made his way to the kitchen. 

Pouring blackness into his cup; he contemplated making Marinette a cup of coffee but upon realizing he had no idea how she liked her coffee, he decided against it. Sitting at the table that now had two chairs instead of one (Nathalie ordered another for him last week), he buried his head in his hands. 

"Not a morning person, huh?" Marinette's voice was painted with amusement as she entered the kitchen. 

"No, coffee's over there." He gestured with the one hand that he wasn't using try and gouge out his eyeballs as if it would help with any of his problems. 

"Where's the sugar?" 

"Over there" Adrien pointed to the counter between the stove and microwave, perpendicular to the counter that held the coffee maker. 

"Thanks." A pause as Adrien heard the clink of a spoon against a cup as it mixed in sweetness into the bitter blackness. "Do you have creamer?" 

"Nope." His gaze jerked to her as he heard the *clank* of the spoon fall. The look on her face showed her obvious distaste over the statement. 

"You don't have creamer?" She repeated her question. 

"No?" He answered hesitantly, bewildered at the way she was looking at him like he was insane. 

"What do you put in your coffee, then?" 

"I don't? I drink my coffee black." He watched her nose scrunch in aversion as he took a rather large (larger than normal) sip from his cup. 

"You poor child, you have been corrupted." Adrien snorted at her dramatics, but decided to play along; 

"What the black of the coffee is consuming my soul?" 

Mock horror filled her face as Marinette came to rest her hand on Adrien's shoulder. 

"Adrien, I think we need an exorcism. I'll get the priest." Her voice gravely serious. 

They stared at each other, their faces rigid masks of sobriety, neither willing to drop their mask before the other. But Adrien had years of practice of hiding his true emotions, Marinette didn't stand a chance. 

To her credit, Marinette gave Adrien a run for his money, but even she couldn't last against Adrien. Her lips started twitching, she closed her eyes against Adrien's raised eyebrows, trying to get control of her emotions. But soon her hand came up to cover her mouth as her body began to shake with hidden giggles. Before long she gave up, and let her laughs escape. Adrien allowed himself to grin as he watched her come undone, her fingers quavering in mirth on his shoulder. 

Finally, still giggling, she moved to the other side of the table with her coffee cup. 

"God, it wasn't even that funny." 

"You sounded like, Alya, there for a minute." He joked. 

"Thanks, I was trying my best to channel the drama queen." 

Adrien grinned at her again before taking enough sip of coffee. Marinette had finally composed herself enough to take a drink of her coffee without choking on it, but her cheeks were still rounded in a smile she couldn't get rid of. 

As the adults drank their coffee, awkwardness settled in. Adrien normally started his mornings alone and never had to make conversation within his own house (house? suite that is still attached to his father's house? Can that be called a house? Maybe a playroom? Not like that you perverts). He let his eyes flicker from the steam drifting from his cup to the girl across from him. The awkward silence continued until Adrien felt like he was choking on it. 

_I have to say something, anything. But what do I say? God, she must think I'm so lame, I mean I am bu--_

His inner thoughts **(read anxiety)** was interrupted by a small cough and a pained smile from across the table. 

"So, any plans for the day?" Her voice was overly bright, as if trying to hide the fact that they were married strangers, which only succeeded in pointing it out more. 

"No plans for me, thank god, Natalie finally gave me a day off." Another sip of black. "What about you?" 

"Mm, well my stuff should arrive today, so I'll probably just be unpacking. And you know, getting acquainted with your apartment and everything." 

"Ah, I'll help with your unpacking." 

"Oh! Y-you don't have to! I didn't mean-- I can--"

"Marinette," Adrien started softly, "It's alright, I want to." 

"Okay." 

Another awkward pause. 

"Well, I'm going to go ahead and shower. You know, get ready for the day." 

"Sure, sure. I'll, um, watch for your stuff." 

Marinette nodded before moving to get up. Looking a bit unsure, she turned back to Adrien. 

"I, um, put the cup in the sink right? Do I need to wash it?" 

"No, no. You can just rinse it and put it in the dishwasher." 

"Ah, okay." 

The awkwardness settled over them like a heavy blanket as Adrien heard the water run. He pointedly looked down into his cup as if he was suddenly very interested in his coffee as she crossed the kitchen and living room into the bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, Adrien dropped his head into his hands once again and groaned quietly. Little did he know that Marinette mirrored the action behind the bedroom door. 

 

 

"And I'll just need you to sign here, sir." 

Adrien nodded as he took the clipboard and pen from a nameless man who was here only to drop off a faceless woman's belongings. 

"Alright, we'll just set these in here. Do you mind leaving the door open for us?" 

"Sure thing." He murmured as he handed back the clip board. He watched as the man took it back to the truck and started to unload boxes with the help on another man. He scurried out of the way as they began to move boxes into the living room. 

Adrien watched as boxes filled the room, scattered here and there, with markings on them dictating the contents; such as clothes, fabrics, pictures, sewing, and one, oddly enough, marked with lights. Busy with thoughts involving what the light box entailed, he didn't realize the moving man fluttering around him; hopping from foot to foot anxiously. 

"Um, sir?" Adrien turned to him, a small smile apologizing for his inattention and gesturing for the man to continue, "what should we do with the plants?" 

"Plants?" Adrien questioned. The moving man beckoned him to come outside. And the sight that met Adrien left him gawking in surprise. 

Thirty plus plants greeted him as the men looked at him in mirrored confusion and amusement. Plants of all sizes littered his drive way, from a cactus in a three inch pot to a big leafy plant in a red and black, spotted pot that looked like it weighed fifty pounds. As he stared around, shock was replaced with beguilement and endearment. 

Chuckling, he headed back inside, calling over his shoulder; 

"Bring them in." 

 

Marinette's panicked voice called his name across the apartment as he and one of the moving men struggled with that large leafy plant Adrien had noted earlier. 

"What was that?" He called back, swearing under his breath as a gigantic leaf hit him in the face yet again, the moving man looked around at him helplessly as they searched for space to put the plant. 

"Over there, in the hallway." He grunted to the other man as he waited for Marinette's reply. 

"How--turn--in shower--its--big--overflow?" Marinette yelled from behind the door.

"What? I only got half of that!" He yelled back, working to set down the plant in the hallway leading past the bedroom to the spare rooms. 

"Turn off--do---use---blue knob--hurry!" Adrien could hear the annoyance and frustration leaking through Marinette's voice. 

Adrien straightened up in satisfaction, exchanging smug looks with the moving man as they had finally sat down the plant where there was space and wouldn't block anything. He was about to turn back to go see what Marinette needed when he heard the bedroom door open. He heard the moving man cough, and looked up with a frown to ask if he was alright, when he saw the blush on the man's face. His eyebrows raised in surprise, he quickly turned around as he heard stuttering. 

"H-h-how do yo-you turn o-f-f-f th-the goddamn-n show-wer?" 

Adrien easily understood the man's reaction as he saw Marinette. She was standing in the hallway; three feet away, in front of the bedroom; soaking wet and with only a towel wrapped around her. Her dark hair was loose and Adrien was close enough to see the water dripping off the strands to run down her skin and disappear into the towel. Her entire face was flushed with red, her embarrassed flush continuing down to decorate her freckled shoulders and to meet the top of breasts just barely peeking out of the white fluff of the towel. 

It took Adrien three seconds to process that Marinette was standing there wet, naked and only in a towel. It took him five to realize that there was still two other men standing there staring at her. It took him seven to react. 

He quickly gripped her wet **(nude ;) )** shoulders, and gently pushed her back into the bedroom, calling back to the moving men before closing the door; 

"Alright, it seems that we're done moving everything! You can go ahead and head out!" 

The door closed with a click, Adrien took in a big gulp of air as Marinette's cheeks burned an even brighter red. 

"T-the s-s-shower," She stuttered, a habit she thought she left back in high school, "I d-don't know h-how to turn it off, and- and I-I'm-m-m afr-afraid that, that it's g-going t-t-to overflow. I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't realize th-they were still h-here." 

"It's okay." He tried to comfort the girl who was nearly in tears due to the embarassment, but he wasn't sure how as anywhere he would touch...

"A-Anyways," _Get away from those thoughts, Agreste._ He thought, "let me show you how to turn it off." 

With a hand on her covered, lower back, he steered her into the bathroom. There he showed her how his shower dials worked as she looked over his shoulder. He couldn't blame the poor girl for not being able to figure them out after all, his dad insisted on getting the fanciest, most expensive, most complicated fixtures for his en suite apartment. 

"Thank you. I'm sorry. " Marinette sniffed, not meeting his eyes. 

"Its okay, don't worry about it." Adrien rubbed her lower back again, trying to comfort her the best that he could. He was about to leave to let her get dressed, but hesitated as he remembered something she once did when he fell into a puddle at school and nearly cried from embarrassment. Steeling his resolve and with his fingers still pressed onto her lower back, he leaned in and kissed her head. 

"Hurry, and get dressed; we have to figure out what to do with all of those plants." He murmured into her hair before quickly exiting the bathroom. He closed the bathroom door, and let out a deep breath as his cheeks burned and his heart raced. But amidst these troubling physical complications, a smile grew on his face and he left to go try and organize the boxes a bit. 

 

 

"You name your plants?" Adrien snorted as he unpacked her sewing machine and put on his old desk. A week ago he cleared out one of the spare rooms that was his office, but that he never used. He wanted Marinette to have a space to call her own. And when she arrived, she decided that she would convert the space into a workroom. 

"Of course! Each one of them are vastly different after all!" 

"They're plants!" 

"So?!" 

"Okay, okay. If you say so." His smile mischevious as he looked over his shoulder. Marinette scrunched her face before throwing a puff ball at him. He turned around in time to bat it out of the air. 

"Such a cat." She murmured under her breath. 

"Hmm? What was that?" 

"Nothing." She said innocently, but Adrien could see the smirk bleeding through her features. 

He grabbed the bag of puff balls and started launching them at her. Left with no ammunition, all Marinette could do was use her hands to defend herself. Her small body shaking laughter. 

"Alright, alright! I surrender!" 

Adrien paused; his arm pulled back, taunt. He gripped the fluffy puff ball in his hand as he held it back farther, and watched as Marinette shrunk away, giggling. 

"Promise?" 

More giggles. 

"Yes." 

"I don't believe you." His eyes narrowed as he watched Marinette give a fake gasp. 

"Adrien, I'm hurt." Her expression becoming angelic as she batted her dark eyelashes up at him. Her blues eyes peaking through, expecting him to cave under that hypnotic look...Adrien didn't want to admit it, but it might have been working. 

"Fine. But I'm watching you." He sniffed and turned back to finish unpacking the box he was currently working on.

Marinette laughed out loud. 

"C'mon, we need to finish this so we can have dinner." 

Adrien made a sound of agreement. They had been unpacking all day and this was the last room. They had unpacked her clothes, hung them up in the closet; shoes and a number of other things covering the previous, unused floor. And suddenly makeup and facial cleansers covered his bathroom counters. Most of her boxes, went into this room; Mannequins, bolts upon bolts of fabrics, two sewing machines, countless boxes of threads, and needles, and measuring tapes. The walls were covered with images torn out of magazines, collections carefully cut out of catalogs and pictures of Marinette and her friends; some Adrien recognized, and many that he did not. 

Oh, and the plants. Many of the smaller plants were in here, as well as two large ones (including that fucker who weighed fifty pounds). Plants were scattered around his apartment too. A couple of succulents in the bathroom, a small lemon tree sitting in the corner of their bedroom, medium sized plants and flowers strewn all around the kitchen and living room. Adrien was pretty sure that she even managed to sneak a few into his workout room. Its not that Adrien minded the plants, in fact he loved them, but he just wasn't used to having so much...life around. 

Adrien's focus zeroed in on the only box they hadn't unpacked; the box labelled lights. He went to stand by it. 

"Hey, Marinette, what's in this box?" He called, only able to see her butt as she crawled under the table where her sewing machine sat, trying to plug in it. 

"Go ahead and open it." Her voice muffled. Adrien looked down at the box before tearing off the tape. As he opened the box, his bafflement only increased. In the box was...lights **(shocker)**. They almost looked like the Christmas lights they put on the Christmas trees in the mall during December, but these were a bit more delicate looking. The plastic surrounding the wiring of the small light had more detail, little shapes and patterns etched it it. 

He looked up as he heard Marinette's laugh, she was looking up at him and his confusion from the floor. 

"They're decorative lights. My mom calls them fairy lights." 

"What do you do with them?" Adrien was still trying to grasp the concept of these "fairy lights". 

"You string them up on the walls." She responded, getting up to stand at his shoulder. She pointed to the walls, and Adrien let his view be guided with her finger. 

"Why?" He asked, bewildered. 

"They look pretty." She said simply, Adrien looked at her, bewilderment still etched on his face. 

Marinette blew out a breath. 

"I don't know, they just...kind of make me feel warm. Like they're little lights twinkling at me in the darkness, giving me all of their light...even if it isn't much...I just really like them, I know it sounds stupid." 

"Its not stupid." Adrien's voice barely above a whisper as he looked at the small lights with a new look of preciousness. 

Marinette glanced between Adrien and the lights before she spoke; making her voice as soft as his, she asked; 

"Will you put them up for me, Adrien?" 

He nodded, setting the light down gently before leaving the room. He reentered with a chair, nails and a hammer. As he positioned his chair, he grabbed the hammer and nails and climbed up onto the chair. 

"Can you hand me the lights?" 

Marinette fed him the string of lights. The only sound between them the *boom* of the hammer as it connected with the nail.

"Am I doing this right?" He murmured to her as he strung the lights up onto the nails. 

"Yup! They look perfect." 

After a few more minutes of silence and hammer noise, Marinette voiced hesitantly; 

"Um, would you mind if I started dinner while you finished this? I'm not really doing anything anyways." 

Adrien chuckled before replying. 

"Not at all, the faster dinner is done, the quicker I get to eat." 

As Marinette left, all that could be heard in the apartment was the sound of hammering and the slight humming of happy blue eyed girl. 

By the time Adrien was finished, Marinette was almost done preparing dinner. He grinned as he saw the impact she already had on his apartment. Warmth emitting from the plants placed on coffee tables and counters, pictures scattered around made it seemed like people actually lived here, blankets piled on the couch and occupied one of the chairs seemed to glow with a emotion he couldn't place. And there in the middle of it all was Marinette; ingredients littered the counter as she stirred something in a bowl, pans dispersed all over counters, something on the apron she had unpacked. Never had his home felt so much like...well, like a home. As he watched her search through cabinets, attempting to set the table, he smiled to himself again before going to help her. Their exchange was silent, other than Marinette asking where the plates were. And before long, they sat down to eat. The awkward silence started to settle over them again, when Adrien's phone rang. 

The name on the caller ID: Nathalie. Adrien sighed. 

"Sorry." He mumbled to Marinette. She gestured that it was fine as he picked up the phone. 

"Hello? Yes, Nathalie? Huh, okay." Adrien pulled the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker, placing it on the table. 

"She wants to talk to both of us." He murmured quietly to Marinette and saw her nod. 

"Hello, Nathalie." 

"Hello, Marinette. I apologize for interrupting your evening but I had something important to discuss with both of you." 

"It's fine, Nathalie." Marinette said at the same time Adrien asked: "What do you want to discuss?" 

"I'm calling to discuss the details of your honeymoon." 

Adrien choked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm baaackkk! And with the longest chapter to date of 3809 words! (Don't quote me on that) This chapter is laced with a ton of metaphors, subtle hints, and hidden angst; have fun finding them, my children! Mwahahaha 
> 
> I need help 
> 
> Love, 
> 
> Cutesylittledemon


	7. Somehow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my lovelies, miss me? Well if you didn't and just want to get on with the chapter that you guys have been pretty patiently waiting for(thank you) skip the next paragraph. If you actually semi-care about why I've been so inactive, well stay tuned because I'm about to give you my excuses. First: School. Second: Scholarships. Third: Finals. Fourth: I have to make major life decisions about what I want to do and what college I want to go to. Fifth: I like sleep... No but seriously, all of this crap has left me with little to do time to write, but now it's winter break and I don't have a life or friends who will come visit me *cough* *cough* (Dora) because they all live an hour and a half a way, so now I have some time for this. :'D.
> 
> *IMPORTANT INFO FOR CHAPTER* So all of you that just want to get on with the chapter, here ya go. I tried to make everything as accurate as possible but if its not please let me know, and I'll try and fix it. Ladybug and Chat Noir are not necessarily in this story, and I haven't decided yet if I will have high school aged Marinette and Adrien(their past selves) as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Just a quick disclaimer. Oh! Also, I just found out that Natalie's name is actually spelled Nathalie so I will be going back and fixing that. T_T

"Honeymoon?!?" Adrien managed to choke out, a rather incredible feat since he was still choking on the concept it's self.

"Yes, Adrien," Nathalie said impatiently. "Of course, it'll mostly be for publicity but I'm sure you guys will have some free time."

Adrien heaved a giant breath, about to let out a gigantic groan as he buried his face in his hands. But in a sick turn of events, he just had to blow out hot air, when Marinette cut him off.

"When were you thinking for the h-honeymoon, Nathalie." Adrien's cheeks burned when Marinette stumbled over the word "honeymoon", her eyes glancing up before deftly looking down. She seemed to be concentrating profusely on the phone that sat between them.

"About two weeks from toda--"

"Sorry, but I can't do that. I have a huge project due in two and a half weeks." Marinette cut off Nathalie, causing Adrien to glance up in preparation for war; after all, Nathalie NEVER let him cut her off.

"Can't you get the work done before your deadline? Or I'm sure Mr. Agreste will allow an extended deadline." Nathalie responded calmly. Adrien's jaw dropped in disbelief; there was the slightest hint of frustration inching into her voice but nothing near the attitude she always gave Adrien. 

Adrien had to mask his laugh with a cough as he watched Marinette roll her eyes. He had never seen someone roll their eyes so hard in his life, and he use to hang out with Chloe.

"Nathalie, both you and I know, that Mr. Agreste doesn't do extensions. Besides that, part of the project is to have your designs walk the runway aaaaannnnddd I have clients already lined up who will not react well to an extended deadline either."

"Well can't you speed up the process and get it done a few days early?" Nathalie tried again, her voice almost a beg.

Marinette went silent. Even Adrien knew how impossible and rude it was to ask a designer to shave days off their time to prepare a line. Especially since, often the time his father gave his designers was the bare minimum. He had walked through the designing floor during the time nearing an important deadline; he could literally hear the stress from the zip! of the sewing machines, the cutting of fabric, the muffled curses from a pin prick and the occasional sobbing coming from a corner. The designers needed all the time they were given and asking a designer to shave not only an hour but days off their time was...

Marinette took in a deep breath, her chest expanding, before blowing it out in a sigh.

"Even if I could manage to do that, Nathalie, the quality of my line would plummet. And I still have to walk my designs on the runway on the designated date and time."

"Well." Nathalie huffed.

"Well, indeed." Marinette's voice had taken on tones far past irritation until it reached vexation.

"I suppose that we can move it until right after your project," Nathalie sniffed. "Would three weeks work for you?"

"Sure, that's fine. Nathalie. "

"Well, now that's settled, the question is where you want to take your honeymoon? "

Adrien and Marinette exchanged looks of panic. Trying and failing to communicate with their eyes, the line filled with silence.

"Of course, if you two can't decide, I'm sure Mr. Agreste and I can choose an appropriate place..." 

Horror filled Adrien at the idea of his father picking a place for his honeymoon. He could already picture Nathalie suggesting a romantic getaway in the Bahamas filled with romantically cheesy crap that all tourist love to do.

"Lugano!" He blurted out. Marinette stared at him in part surprise and part curiosity. He cleared his throat.

"Lugano, Switzerland, Nathalie."

"Noted. Now this call has gone far past the time I scheduled it to, I will be stopping by later tonight to discuss the next couple of week's publicity outings and such. I will be there at seven, promptly."

"Okay." Adrien mumbled, his entire figure slumping as he buried his head in his hands. _This was too stressful,_ he thought.

"Goodbye, Marinette. Adrien."

"Goodbye, Nathalie." Marinette's voice soft. Adrien looked up to watch her receding behind her own hands. Her eyes darker than usual and her hands came to tuck themselves under her chin. Her lips were pursed and her eyebrows scrunched together. Even after all of these years, Adrien recognized her thinking face.

 _It's odd,_ he thought, _she's changed so much since our high school days. She's radiant, and confident, and mesmerizing, I mean she was all of those things back then but somehow now all of these attributes are more... pronounced. Yet, I can still see parts of her that I remember back then. The stuttering, the facial expressions, the warmth emitted from her, her smile..._

But Adrien felt that Marinette had never been her truer self than she was currently. Or perhaps that's not right; maybe it was just that he was seeing Marinette for the first time. He leaned his head on his arm, hiding half of his face as he pondered over her.

_Somehow, all those little quirks and the parts of her I was never able to see have come together to create...her. Its like she was a puzzle I never completed to see the full picture...I could never put all the pieces together...maybe because she hid some of them. I wonder why..._

_Well whatever the reason,_ he thought, _the full picture is really beautiful._ A small smile hidden behind the arm he was resting his cheek against. He watched as she seemed to come out of her own contemplative state.

"So, Lugano, huh?"

"Ah, yeah. I mean you like plants right? And Lugano has plants, so yeah." He finished lamely, hiding his burning face in the crook of his elbow. His other arm coming up to frame his face in an L shape with his forearm resting on his head.

"Sorry, I should have talked to you first but I just--"

"Adrien, it's okay, " She giggled. "I mean, I do like plants, after all."

"Urnnnnn," Adrien drug his hand down his face. "Obviously, there's more than just plants; there's museums and shops and a lot of places to hike, and lakes and--"

"Adrien, it sounds lovely. I was only teasing." Marinette said lightly, while laying a hand on his arm. He gave her a small smile.

"I, just-- it's not romantic or anything, like I'm sure Nathalie or my dad would want; but it's really pretty and its a lot of fun. It's kind of quiet and quaint. I was only thinking that, even though we will have to do some publicity stuff, at least we might be able to go and do something new, you know?"

"It sounds great, Adrien. I really love the outdoors and hiking and stuff, so it sounds perfect, " Marinette flashed him a bright smile. "Besides I'm sure I can convince Nathalie for some free time scheduled around the publicity ploys."

Adrien chuckled.

"Its true that I've never seen anyone bully Nathalie like what you just did."

"I don't bully, I convince." She pouted.

He responded with an eye roll and a smile. She gave him a playful shove back, laughing as she got up and started clearing plates from the dinner table.

"Ah, I'll help." A silence settled over them again, but this time it was a slightly more comfortable one than before. And even though the only sounds echoing through the apartment were clinks of dishes and the running water in the sink, Adrien felt a warmth spread in his chest as he loaded soapy dishes into the dishwasher. _Companionship is kinda, really nice, he thought._

"So you've got a big project, huh?" He asked as casually as possible.

And just like that, it was as if he had opened the flood gates. For the rest of the chore, they chattered(more like Marinette chattered and Adrien listened) about her designs and her plans for this project.

He was so entranced by how animated she got when talking about her designs, he didn't even hear his door bell the first time. It wasn't until the ding's came in rapid succession that they both stopped, sheepishly, and went to answer the door.

Adrien hurried to the door and pulled it open. There stood Nathalie in her pants suit, red turtle neck, thin glasses and her indifferent attitude; huffing in annoyance.

"I'm sorry to make you wait, we were washing dishes and couldn't hear over the water. Please come in, Nathalie."

Even through her emotionlessness, she still managed to shoot him a glare that made shivers run down his back.

She swept in and her eyes widen as she took in the state of Adrien's apartment. Obviously she wasn't used to his apartment looking like a human being lived in it either.

"Would you like to sit down, Nathalie?" Marinette gestured to the couch. She had asked politely, but Adrien thought that he heard some wry amusement in there.

Nathalie cleared her throat and the emotion slid off her face, resuming her trained impassive expression.

"Thank you, but allow us to go to the table, please."

Marinette nodded. Adrien followed her as they went to sit down. Since there was only two chairs, he pulled up the ottoman from the living room two steps away. As he pulled up in between the two powerful women, he watched Nathalie pull out stacks of paper from her brief case.

"I came to discuss some of the outings that we have planned over the next two weeks, " She explained calmly and detached. "Let's talk scheduling first; Adrien, I, of course, already have your schedule but, Marinette, would you mind if we see yours?"

"Of course, I'll go grab it." Marinette pushed back her chair and hurried down the hallway. 

That left Adrien and Nathalie...together...alone. An awkward silence pursued between the two adults.

"So you and Marinette are getting along I presume?" Nathalie said, her voice just a detatched as it normally was but Adrien could see her eyes crinkle a bit. The most prominent sign of worry from Nathalie.

Adrien smiled a bit.

"Yeah, Nathalie, we're okay."

And just for a second, Adrien could see relief flash in her eyes.

"Adrien! Did you unpack my purse?" Marinette called from the bedroom.

"The pink one?" He turned in his chair and called back.

"Yeah!"

"I think its in the closet! In the container with all of the other bags! Right beneath my shirts!"

"Ah! Thank you!" Her voice quieting as she came back to the table, carrying a pink purse. She sat down and pulled out a small colorful booklet. "Here is my schedule." She explained, opening to the current month. Adrien's eyebrows raised as he saw tons of markings all over the days. His eyes were drawn to the day marked WEDDING DAY in red. There were no doodles of flowers around this day like the date marked SPRING FASHION DUE. There was no little party hats and streamers stickers decorating this date like the one that was marked ALYA'S BIRTHDAY. No, the only thing that illuminated the day marked WEDDING DAY was the big blocky red letters. And, perhaps, the small dots of separation and smearing of red ink; as if water had accidentally dropped...

"Sorry, my schedule looks a bit hectic at the moment. Even though we're only assistant designers we have to keep the same timelines as the regular designers, which means that our deadline for next years spring and summer fashion is this summer, of course." She was a bit out of breath as she tried to regain her composure after hurrying this way and that so much.

"It's fine, we only have two and a half weeks before the honeymoon so there won't be too many outings. We wanted to make sure to romantic dinner, a romantic walk, a romantic day of running errands--"

"How can running errands be romantic?" Adrien interrupted to ask in confusion.

"Please, Adrien, " Nathalie continued as if not even hearing him. "And of course you two will have to go out together and do normal couple things."

"Like what?" Adrien asked, indignant over the irony of referring to them as a normal couple.

Nathalie sighed.

"I'm sure the marketing team will come up with something Adrien, I'm only in charge of scheduling these things."

"Okay," Marinette murmured. "I think I can do the romantic dinner this Thursday night, between seven and eight. Will that be enough time?"

"It should be, what about the romantic walk on this Saturday at three?"

"Can't, I have an important fitting then. How about this Sunday, same time?"

"Adrien has a photoshoot, but I suppose that can be reschedule for earlier in the day..."

"Okay, what about running errands? That'll easily take an entire afternoon...I suppose on my day off, but I was planning on working then...I guess I can just work before."

"Perfect, Adrien only has a fitting in the morning that day."

"That's tomorrow, huh?" Marinette muttered, more to herself than anyone else but Nathalie nodded even so.

And before his eyes, all of Adrien's spare time and even some of his not spared time, was snatched by Nathalie's publicity schedule. Marinette's hand was a blur trying to write in all the activities on the correct dates. He looked over her shoulder in horror, they would barely even have time to sleep!

"Alright, that should do it. I'll call you if we need to reschedule anything. I'm leaving detailed instructions for each date."

"Thanks." Adrien muttered, light fading from his eyes as he saw the stack of papers she left.

"Here, I'll walk you to the door, Nathalie," Marinette looked up from her increasingly messy schedule.

"Thank you, but I'll be fine. Have a good night. Marinette. Adrien."

Marinette nodded and Nathalie gathered her brief case and showed herself out.

Adrien heard the door slam, but didn't even register it, as dates and events swirled through his head. A blank, dazed look decorating his features.

"Adrien?"

He heard Marinette's soft voice and vaguely felt her small hand on his arm. He turned his blank eyes on her face. As he looked upon her sad smile, and worry creased forehead, he recognized the numb look in his eyes mirrored in hers.

He stood up abruptly, disrupting papers and pens. Outrage building inside him as he watched Marinette tried to scramble to put the contents of the table back in order. He laid a light hand on hers, causing her to pause and look up at him, in both curiosity and confusion.

"C'mon, Marinette." Adrien turned his hand to cup hers in his.

"Where are we going?" She asked as he guided her up, nudging her side-wards and half pushing in her chair with his foot.

"To sleep" He took her by the hand and lead her to the bedroom.

"But it's only like 7: 50!" She protested halfheartedly.

"Well, with that schedule from hell, we're going to need all the sleep we can get." He squeezed her hand, trying and most likely failing to reassure her, but he still had to try. This isn't fair to her, he thought for probably the billionth time.

She was silent for a beat before her hand returned the pressure.

"Okay."

Adrien woke up early the next morning, or well, earlier than usual. But as he blinked sleep from his eyes and turned over, the petite girl that was supposed to be sleeping next to him...wasn't.

Maybe this was all a dream, he thought in his half asleep state. But even in the half conscious state, the weight of the ring on his finger was heavier on his heart than it should have been. He drug himself out of bed and into the bathroom. Not really ready to start his elaborate skin care and self care routines as he turned on the shower. He sighed as he stepped into the steaming shower, hissing when the hot water hit his skin. Waking up a little more with each scorching minute, he washed his hair and tried not to think about the grueling schedule set for the next few weeks. Hell, the next few months.

Just breathe, Agreste. He thought.

He finished in the shower and got dressed, completely ready for some coffee and some breakfast. 

As he walked out into the hallway, he stubbed his toe on that motherfucking plant. As he swore, he thought for the umpteenth time of poisoning it indiscreetly. But as he had done for the umpteenth time, he flashed back to Marinette yesterday when she had begged him to drag it from her sewing room back into the hallway where it had been originally because it needed the light and the hallway had a convenient little window at the very end on the wall, before the entrance to the bedroom. Through much cursing on his part, he finally succeeded in getting that stupid plant into the spot she wanted it. Panting and glaring at the plant, he had asked;

"Why do you even have such a big plant? Isn't it a little big to be an inside plant?"

Marinette had looked up from where she was clucking over the leaves to shoot him a look of amusement.

"Well, it wasn't big when I got it. In fact, when I first got it, it was quite small. It was a birthday gift, so its very special to me. But I don't think the person who gave it to me expected it to get so big." She had shot him a mischievous smile before continued. "Nor do I think that he expected that he would have to move it around his apartment years later."

He had been confused, until he had remembered that he had given her a plant many years ago. For her sixteenth birthday...but it had only been a single stem and leaf then. His eyes had widened as he took in the huge leafy plant before him.

"Fuck, I'm sorry."

She had laughed, "It's alright." She had reassured him. "But I must say Plagg here is a bit...demanding sometimes." She had laughed again.

"So this one's name is Plagg, I'l be sure to put that name down in my book of enemies." He had muttered.

 

Adrien smiled, even as his toe throbbed, he could still hear her laughter echoing through his head. He headed into the kitchen. He frowned as he plucked a yellow sticky note stuck the the coffee pot. The note read;

Dear Adrien,  
Had to get up super early and didn't want to wake you. I'll be home around one-ish for our afternoon outing. Have a good day!

Love,  
Marinette

He felt the coffee pot, it was still semi-hot. He glanced at the clock, it was 6:47 a.m.. She must have had to made this over an hour and a half ago, for it to be this cold. He mused. How early did she get up this morning?

He sipped his coffee, and his eyes landed on a plant in the window, (said window that was letting an insulting amount sunlight stream into the kitchen. _We really should get curtains,_ he thought.) As he took another sip of coffee, his focus zeroed in on the plant. 

Another plant he had given Marinette back when they were teenagers. However, this time, Adrien remembered, that he had begged her to take it. Someone had given it as a gift, but after a few weeks the beautiful red and black flowers had shriveled and wilted. Marinette had taken it, of course. She never would have left it alone, she had this amazing (sometimes annoyingly so) ability to take something so far gone and bring it back to life. The thing about Marinette (or what he remembered) was that once something was broken, she wanted to fix it and it frustrated her to no end when she couldn't fix something. Maybe that was why he always kept his distance... But here it was, abundant with the ladybird poppies and still in the black and neon green pot, covered with paw prints, that he had given it to her in. She had named this one Tikki. Adrien reached out and lightly grazed one of the bright colored flowers.

I wonder--His thought was interrupted by the Ding!Dong! of the door bell. He sighed. Nathalie was here to take him to that fitting for some line he had to model.

He turned away from Tikki, away from her color and beauty and faced the cold and harsh reality that was his life.

 

 

"I'm here!" Marinette doubled over gasping. Nathalie stood a few paces away, huffing and tapping her foot. They were standing in front of the Agreste manor, where they were just waiting for Marinette, who was ten minutes late.

"I'm sorry! We had an emergency at work! One of the models for next weeks show--"

"We don't have time! Get into the car, the press and paparazzi are already waiting for us at Boulevard Haussmann!" Nathalie's voice was shrill and Marinette winced when she had turned her back. Nathalie, none the wiser, continued;

"I have the shopping list Marinette, emailed me last night. We're going to Boulevard Haussmann for home items then we'll head over to Avenue Montaigne for some clothing items. I have approximately 3 hours planned for this shopping trip so we may have to be quick."

Adrien leaned back on the seat he was already in and groaned.

They had walked back and forth in front of the same couch for forty five minutes. Paparazzi taking one shot after the next, and Adrien thought he was going to gouge his eyeballs out if one more photographer told him to smile more brightly or embrace Marinette more tenderly. He mouth was already starting to hurt and his palms had surpassed sweaty into regions he had never known possible. He could tell that this photo shoot was taking a toll on Marinette too. If her smile had been a bit forced in the beginning, it was now comparable to an animal baring its teeth as it was being threatened. After a few more minutes, Nathalie finally agreed with the photographers that they had enough shots.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief and felt the action mirrored in Marinette's small body next to him. Nathalie turned to them.

"Okay, go grab what you came here for, quickly. And remember to keep holding hands and acting like a couple!" She called after them quietly as they rushed off, glad to finally be free for a few minutes.

"Okay, we need to grab curtains, a few more throw pillows for the couch...dish soap and laundry detergent..." Marinette muttered, looking around frantic.

"Don't forget the soap for the bathroom." He reminder her softly. 

"Oh right."

Adrien and Marinette rushed around, trying to grab whatever they needed before rushing back to where Nathalie was standing, waiting to sweep them off to another arrondissement.

And so she did. They were put through three more torturous photo shoots, not including the natural pictures the photographers got of them "shopping"( which was really just the photographers taking pictures of them buzzing around trying to gather the items they needed.).

Finally, after a grueling three and a half hours, they were finally done. Nathalie was, finally satisfied and Adrien and Marinette were thoroughly exhausted.

"You two did well today. Shall I have the car take you two home?"

"Actually Nathalie..." Marinette started, "I promised my parents that I'd visit them, since I was going to be out. So I'll head over to Avenue Hoche to do that. Adrien, you can head home, if you would like."

"No, no, it's fine I'll go with you."

Nathalie seemed to waiver a bit.

"Well, alright. I suppose that would be okay. Just remember that when you're out in the public's eye, you two are a very happily married couple who is very much in love with each other."

"Got it, Nathalie." Adrien said shortly, not bothering to mask his obviously irritability. Marinette squeezed his arm that she was holding.

"Would you like to use the car?"

"Thank you, Nathalie, but..." Again Marinette hesitated and looked up at Adrien before seeming to steel herself in her decision, "I think that we'll walk. We both need some fresh air after all those stuffy shops. We're near Avenue des Champs-élysées, and besides its not that far."

"Okay, if you insist."

"Yes, thank you Nathalie. We'll see you later." Adrien forced one more smile to come to his lips before turning away abruptly, hurrying down Avenue George V.

He breathed another sigh of relief as they put enough distance between the car and them.

"Sorry, I should have discussed it with you first but I just need to get out of stuffy places."

"It's fine, I honestly don't mind walking at all. Besides its not that bad, it's only about one and a half miles from where we are right now, right?"

She nodded, her eyes half lidded from exhaustion. Her arm still wrapped around his with her hand on his bicep. With his free hand he lightly nudged the top of her head until it was resting on his shoulder.

"Long day?"He asked gently. He literally felt her body suck in a deep breath and release it.

"You have no idea." She muttered.

"There was an issue with one of the models, you said?"

And off they were, chattering and complaining about their workdays. Before they knew it, their feet had carried them to 12 Rue Gotlib. The Boulangerie Patisserie stood in front of them, and once again Adrien was transported back into his Lycee years where he had spent some time here, playing video games and eating pastries. He smiled fondly at the memories. Lights glowed within the little bakery, bringing warmth to the darkening environment through appearance and atmosphere alone. His reminiscing was interrupted by Marinette shifting from foot to foot at his side. 

"We don't have to spend a lot of time here. My parents just have to make sure that I'm, you know, content and well- fed, and all--"

"Marinette, it's fine. Besides, we can get some food while we're here."

She giggled.

"I've been hearing your stomach rumble for over an hour. We can grab some tartines and jam while we're here since someone refuses to buy coffee creamer."

"I'll have you know, most of the French population takes their coffee black!"

"Yeah, but most of the French population eats a tartine and jam with it and if they don't have the luxury of living above a bakery like my old high school self, then they get creamer and sugar."

Adrien grinned as he opened the door for her.

"Would you go in already so we can get something to eat and not argue about coffee?"

She giggled in response,

"Gladly."

Adrien followed her through the door, smiling fondly at her bouncing at her toes and waving at her parents. He, somehow, made it through the guilt of Tom shaking his hand and Sabine wrapping him in a huge hug. And he, somehow, reassured Marinette that the affection was fine after she apologized. Somehow, he made it through without breaking down and telling them it was all a fraud, that it was all fake. Somehow, he made it through holding Marinette's hand and kissing her on the forehead and murmuring I love you into her hair for her parents to see. Somehow, he made it through the look in her blue eyes when he had said it. Somehow, he had made it through buying bread and pastries. Somehow, he made it make to his apartment and through a rather quiet dinner.

It wasn't until he was lying in bed, surrounded by darkness, the soft breathing of Marinette next to him, that he left himself break.

Over and over again, the image of Marinette's face circulated in his mind. The look in her eyes haunting him. That look that knew he didn't mean those three words he said to her. Knew that all of it was fake. Knew that the guilt was gnawing at his heart. Knew that he was pitying her and himself. Knew that he didn't love her.

And, finally, Adrien let himself cry.

Somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plagg, aka that big motherfucker, is an Elephant ear plant in a red and black spotted pot and is located in the hallway, under a window and he semi-obscures the walkway to the entrance of Adrien's bedroom. Here is a link to the image.  
> http://farm1.static.flickr.com/23/28030115_6956325934.jpg  
> Tikki is a ladybird poppy in a green and black pot with black and green paw prints. She is located in the kitchen window. Here is a link of the image.  
> http://www.timetocraft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ladybird-poppy-open1.jpg


	8. Querencia

Adrien looked down at his watch, she was nearly twenty minutes late. He glanced around nervously, their plane would depart in less than half an hour, and Marinette was no where to be found. Nathalie was in an absolute panic. Adrien bit his lip, shooting her another text asking her where she was, even though his last four were left unread. 

Marinette had, in a turn of luck, managed to move up the date of their departure to the night of her fashion show. Apparently, Adalyn (nicknamed Addy) a co-designer and trusted friend of Marinette, offered to handle Marinette's clients and financial reports that would follow after the show. However, she did still have to walk her line and represent herself at said show. She worked it out with Nathalie that she would arrive at the airport at 11: 30 pm, an hour after the show ended. This plan, while sounding good in theory, was risky as the end of fashion shows were never definite; Adrien would know, after all. All lines being walked took longer than rehearsal, and then, of course, there was always socializing and creating new, beneficial connections after the show. Adrien had personally witnessed fashion shows that went hours longer than was the expected ending time. 

And, apparently, was the case with this show. Adrien checked his watch again: 11: 57 p.m.. Their plane was scheduled to leave at 12: 30 a.m. and they needed to be on the plane by 12: 10 a.m.. Adrien got up from the seating near the entrance of the gate, he started pacing. He heard Nathalie calling Marinette's cell phone for the twelfth time, leaving another frantic message. 

He checked his watch: 12:00 a.m. Midnight.

Again. 12:02 a.m.

12:05 a.m. 

12:07 a.m.

12:08 a.m. 

12:0----"I'm here!" 

Marinette sprinted towards them with heels and passport in one hand while dragging a suit case behind her with the other. Adrien stood there, eyes wide as she half collapsed, hands on knees, in front of him to try and catch her breath. 

She was a perfectly imperfect mess. Her hair had come half undone from the side updo that still held the majority of it, dark strands coming down to frame her face, contrasting with her light features. As she looked up, an apology already falling from her redden lips, Adrien was struck by the stark brightness of her eyes. The blue, enthralling and compelling, against the black eyeliner and shadow that elongated and illuminated the striking dream that was her eyes. Her dress was black and long sleeved, with a neckline cut in a v. The bodice was skin tight, clinging to her small waist and delicate hips. The skirt puffed out, seemingly to stand on its own, due to the heavy black velvet fabric that was used. On the skirt was intricate embroidery, only a couple shades lighter than the skirt. Angelic was not the correct word to use to describe her, neither was beautiful; although, both she was. No, with her darkened eyes, bright red lips, and captivating dress; Marinette was almost bewitching. She was damnably alluring; hauntingly illecebrous; a sinful trouvaille. She resonated with power. She knew she was worth everything, and she wore that idea, as if that concept itself were the embellishments of embroidered cloth and thread that she donned to conceal her naked form. 

"Sorry, I'm late," She said as tucked the loose hair behind her hair, effectively diffusing Adrien's thought process. She glanced at Nathalie, before trying to continue; 

"I--"

"No time!" Nathalie grabbed them both by the wrist and dragged them to the gates, pushing them thorugh quickly as the stewardess made a last call for passengers. Marinette, trying to put on her shoes while being dragged by Nathalie, would have toppled over if Adrien hadn't caught her. His hands around her waist, he lifted her up onto the stairs leading to the plane. Without taking much concern of Nathalie buzzing around in his ear, he took the shoe Marinette still held in her hand and bent down to delicately slide it on her foot. 

"Oh, thank you." Marinette thank him a bit breathlessly as she looked down with a faint look of surprised delight. 

"Of course," Adrien said, an earnest and honest smile lighting up his face, causing his green eyes to twinkle. And for a minute, Marinette's breathlessness was not caused by the exertion and panic of loading onto the plane. They caught each other's eye, green and blue seeming to see clearly for the first time. Yes, just for a moment; however, that moment was interrupted by Nathalie. 

"Yes, yes that was very gentlemanly of you Adrien, now please board the plane!" 

"Best we board the plane, yes?" Adrien asked with a twinkle in his eye. He was answered with a breathless, if a bit sarcastic, laugh by Marinette. As she turned, Adrien allowed the pads of his fingers and palm to graze her lower back, offering a bit of silent support. He remained closely behind her, barely one step behind, his hand still on her lower back to ensure that she would make it up the stairs without a trip or stumble. 

And so, they were swept onto the plane. 

 

 

Adrien thanked his lucky stars **(or perhaps his lucky bugs?)** that Marinette and him had seats in a different area from Nathalie and his press team due to the last minute arrangement of the tickets. It meant that both him, and Marinette may be able to breathe for a least a few minutes, for the first time in two weeks. And probably for the last time for a while. 

He lifted first his, and then Marinette's, carry on bags onto the overhead rack and then moved to sit down in the farthest seat. Marinette sat next to him. Or that is to say that she tried, the width of her skirt made it difficult. She finally gave up on not crumpling the fine fabric, and squished the fabric upward, gather the excess in her lap. She leaned back and closed her eyes with a sigh, ignoring the pointed stares of the other passengers at her obvious overly dressed state. Adrien laid a light hand on hers, and gave a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Her eyes opened a bit, and she gave a small smile as she turned over her hand in his to return the pressure. 

"Ladies and Gentleman, please fasten your seat belts as we begin to ascend." 

The noise on the plane increased and then decreased, as the plane began to move. When the plane was high in the air, Marinette finally turned towards Adrien. 

"Hey." She whispered. 

"Hey," He whispered back with a soft smile. Their hands still linked together, as they were both, almost painfully, aware of the loving couple image they were expected to portray when in the public eye. 

"Sorry, I was late." 

Adrien shook his head and opened his mouth immediately to reassure her;

"Don't even worry about it." 

Marinette eyed him, her piercing eyes seeming to see deep past the mask he showed the world. 

"But I do worry, I caused trouble for you and the others. I made you anxious." 

"Who said I was anxious?" 

Marinette gave him a wry look with eyebrows raised before turning her head back center, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes, she responded; 

"You sent me five texts." 

"So?" He asked stubbornly. 

"In a row." 

Adrien turned his head towards the window, his lips drawn in a pout. He glanced at Marinette out of the corner of his eyes to see a look of amusement on her face. She was looking back at him with a dark, almost sinister light, in her hooded eyes. The look was a challenge, and it made him bold. 

"Can't I send my lovely wife as many text messages as I please?" 

Marinette's eyebrows shot up. 

Perhaps, he was too bold. He bit his lip, wishing that he could draw those words that hung between them, and shove them back down his throat. 

Marinette closed her eyes and the a wry smile, once again, graced her lips. 

"Of course, you can send me as many texts as you wish; however, the fact remains, that you don't." 

Adrien opened his mouth to retort but closed it with a frown as he realized that he couldn't deny this statement. After all, it was the truth; he had, in all, texted her maybe twice in the last three weeks that they had been married, and one of those times had been an accident. 

Marinette chuckled at the sour look his face had contorted into. 

"Adrien, I'm only teasing. I'm just sorry that I caused you to worry so much." 

"Its--," He started to reassure her that it was okay but learning from the past, changed his sentence midway through the beginning of the previous. "Erm, why were you late anyhow?" 

"Mm, Mr. Agreste requested me to attend to some introductions at the last minute." She murmured. 

_Of course it was my father,_ Adrien thought bitterly. 

"By the time I left, it was already 11. Then I had to come all the way across town, and traffic was really bad and there was an accident..." Marinette sighed again, "It was a disaster of a night." 

"Was the fashion show okay?" 

Her silence answered his question. 

"What happened?" He asked gently. 

"Nothing major, one of my models didn't show. Luckily, one of the other girls offered to stand in. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly the size of my other model so the dress had to be altered pretty quickly. It worked out in the end, it was all just so..." She trailed off. 

"Stressful?" He finished for her. 

She nodded. Adrien looked down at the hand he was holding, and hesitantly stroked his thumb over hers. 

"But now, we're heading to Lugano, and it'll be okay for a little while." She said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. 

"Mmm." Adrien hummed out discontentedly. He realized how exhausted she was. He was used to an insane schedule, and even he was tired; moreover, Marinette was trying to juggle the publicity schedule and her normal work schedule(which is just as rigorous as his). 

"Well, we'll be there in less than an hour and a half so why don't you get some rest?" He suggested and Marinette willingly complied. 

He continued to stroke her thumb with his own and he didn't let go of her hand, even as his started to sweat, until after they touched down in Lugano, Switzerland. 

 

 

It was nearly two thirty in the morning before they arrived at the hotel and checked in. Adrien and Marinette wavered with exhaustion as Nathalie handed them their room key. Hers and the rest of the teams was two floors down due to the short notice, she explained. Adrien half-halfheartedly agreed on the time to meet her in the morning as they loaded into the elevator. And, it seemed, that even soft-hearted Marinette didn't have the energy to look attentive as Nathalie explained the following day's schedule. When the doors opened on Nathalie's floor, the couple managed a quiet good night before the doors closed. Adrien let out a long sigh as he slumped against the wall of the elevator. Marinette reached down and took off her heels. When she was back on two feet, she seemed to sway slightly from side to side. Her hand clutched the handle of her suitcase as if it was the only thing keeping her upright. As the elevator dinged and signaled the arrival of their floor, Adrien grabbed his own suit case and moved to stand by Marinette. He lightly, if a bit hesitantly, wrapped an arm around her waist to try and help support her. She glanced down at his hand surprised before leaning her head on his shoulder in gratitude. Adrien dropped his head down to rest on hers, and without moving away, they left the elevator. 

The room was at the very end of the hallway, and Adrien fumbled a bit with the room key before he finally inserted it correctly. He opened the door and held it for Marinette as she stumbled in. Marinette flipped on the lights to the suite and immediately collapsed on the first comfortable surface: the couch. Adrien left his suit case by the mini fridge in the kitchenette that was adjacent to the sitting room where Marinette was currently melting into a pile of exhausted goo. 

In a fit of exhausted frustration, Adrien ripped off his shirt and chucked it in the direction of his suit case. He headed towards the sitting room until he reached the couch. Marinette was lying there, one leg off the couch and her arm thrown over her eyes. He nudged her with his thigh, but she merely groaned indistinctly. 

"C'mon, Marinette, go change out of that dress and then we can go to bed." 

"Don't wanna move." Her voice, while taking on a higher pitch as she whined, was resolute. 

"Mari, you can't sleep in that dress. You can hardly move, c'mon." He nudged her a little more. He heard her heave a huge sigh before she got up quickly, in one fluid motion. Her makeup was faded and smudged badly around her eyes; her hair, while before the majority still remained in the updo, was now falling in large chunks around her shoulders. 

"Unhook me." Her language was short and concise but her meaning wasn't clear until she turned around and lifted her hair up. His eyebrows shoot up, but his fingers did as they were told. Nimbly and numbly unclasping the hooks, his fingers only hesitated slightly as her bra strap was revealed. He was too tired to be embarrassed or questioning of his actions. He finally got to the bottom of the bodice and stepped back, signalling to her that he was done. She swept off with her suit case and unhooked dress into the bathroom. While she was gone, Adrien quickly changed out of his jeans into some comfier gym shorts. He didn't bother putting on a shirt, and moseyed his way into the bedroom. He took one look at the bed, before falling onto it with a groan of appreciation. 

"Should I leave you alone with the bed? It sounds like you two are getting quite heated in here." Marinette asked, leaning against the door frame. 

"As if you would ever let me have the bed all to myself while you slept on the couch." Adrien's voice was muffled as his face was still smothered into the mattress. He heard Marinette give a dry chuckle as she walked over to the bed. Adrien turned to he side, eyes widened in shock at the sight of her wearing a long t-shirt. Only a long t-shirt. But before his tired brain could compute the long pale legs in front of him, Marinette threw back the blankets and covered his head in the process. 

"Hey!" 

He heard her giggle and felt the bed move as she got on it. 

"Well, are you just going to continue making love to the bed or are you actually going to sleep in it? Because either way, its nearly three in the morning and I am going to bed." 

"You know, our love making session was going great until you interrupted." He grumbled as he crawled up and shimmied under the blankets beside her. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry for interrupting your intimate time with the bed. May I remind you that the bed is also mine." The amusement evident in her voice as she curled up on her side, facing towards him. 

He gasped dramatically. 

"My lovely bed, you've been cheating?! How could you! I thought we had something special!" 

Marinette giggled again, before she reached out and lightly pushed his shoulder. 

"Go to bed, silly." 

"As long as I get to sleep next to you." He mumbled out before he realized what he said. His eyes flew wide open as he processed what he said. 

_Shit. I didn't mean to say that. Oh no, she's gonna think I'm a total playboy now. Shit shit shit shit._

He frantically tried to think of an excuse, he opened his mouth to let anything that came out try and justify what he just said when Marinette interrupted him. 

"You're very flirty when you're tired," She observed as she regarded him pensively, "You're more open too, less cautious and polite." 

"Sorry." He whispered into the darkness, his eyes shut tight against his own shame. 

"No, I like it. It makes me feel less like you're talking to a coworker or the cashier at the store, and more like you consider me as...well something more than a stranger." 

Adrien took her hand that laid lazily between them. Squeezing it lightly, before releasing it and lightly stroking up and down the side of her palm and her thumb with the tips of his finger, he said; 

"You know I consider you more than a stranger, Marinette." 

She smiled wryly, and Adrien could have misread her expression but it seemed a bit...bitter. 

"Of course, I'm your wife after all." 

"No-- I mean you are but," Adrien closed his eyes and swallowed hard, trying to compose what he wanted to say. He opened his eyes and grasped her hand determinedly, "You're not just my wife, Marinette. You're not just the spoils of some deal. You're not a stranger." 

Adrien moved his hand to interlace his fingers with hers. Lightly toying with the ring on her finger, he continued; 

"You feel this ring? It symbolizes all of my promises. I promise to keep you safe, to cherish you, and to try and make you happy." He paused, looking down at the ring he played with hard before looking back up at her, conviction sharp in his gaze as he moved close enough to her that their foreheads were only centimeters away from touching. Dropping his voice down, he continued. "I still remember my promise and I intend to keep it, Marinette. I-I want to love you, whether it be romantically or otherwise. I want to learn about you, and I want you to learn about me. " 

He brought her hand to his chest, cradling it there, and resolution still fresh in his mind, he brought himself even closer so that their foreheads touched. 

"I want to love you, in any way, shape or form that is possible. In any way, shape, or form that you allow, I want to love you. So you were never just a stranger to me, not from the moment I put this ring on your finger. This ring is a promise, okay?" He brought her hand that he was cradling to his lips, where he left a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Opening his eyes to make sure she was okay with this much physical contact, he was surprised to find her eyes blown wide with tears dripping from them. He immediately tried to move away, to give her back the space he obviously violated. He was shocked when she pulled her hand from his grasp, only to thread her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck and lightly pulled him back into his previous position. She rubbed her nose against his, so faintly that he wasn't sure if it actually happened before she took a shaky breath and started; 

"Sorry, its just that you took me a bit by surprise. That was so incredibly sweet..."She took in a deep breath after the pause, almost seeming to brace herself to continue. "I think you think much better of me than what I actually am you know. I am just the same as you." 

"My opinion remains the same, no matter how hard you try to convince me otherwise, Mari." Adrien responded lightly, as he moved to mirror her position and allow his hand to delicately rest on the back of her head. 

"You're having a kalopsia."She muttered. As she closed her eyes, Adrien felt her eyelashes flutter against his skin. 

"A what?" He mumbled out, confused, but not really caring at the moment. 

"A kalopsia, its the delusion that things are more beautiful than they really are." 

"Yǒu xiácī de zuànshí yě yào bǐ wánměi de éluǎnshí hǎo." He, again, mumbled out in response. Sleepiness was starting to overcome him. He closed his eyes, content for possibly the first time in years. 

"What?" 

"It's a Chinese proverb, it means A diamond with flaws is better than a pebble without imperfections." 

"Are you calling me a pebble?" Marinette's confused and a bit offended voice drew out a soft chuckle from Adrien's chest. 

"No, I'm saying that you think that I believe that you're better than you actually are right?" He waited until she nodded before he continued. "Well, what I'm trying to say is that even if that's true, even if you have faults and flaws, it doesn't matter because to me you will always be beautiful, inside and out. Kalon, if you will, since you're apparently fond of weird words that nobody knows---beauty that is more than skin deep." 

Once again she was silent, before she pressed her forehead a bit more firmly against his.

"Mmm, you got all profound and sweet on me again. I'm too tired to come up with a good argument." 

"You mean that there is no good argument." He boasted cockily.

"I'm sure there is, I'll think of one in the morning." Her voice getting more mumbled as sleep began to claim her.

"You can't argue with Chinese proverbs." 

"I'm sure I can try, goodnight Adrien." Stubbornness coming through a yawn and a small sigh as Marinette succumbed to sleep. 

"Goodnight Marinette." 

And as Adrien began to give in to sleep, he entangled his hands into the dark curls of Marinette's hair and pulled himself closer to her. With multiple body parts either touching or entangled, in an embrace he might regret in the morning, happiness and warmth enveloped Adrien. With a smile on his face, Adrien finally slept. And for the first time in many years, the knots in his muscles and his soul, unwound; his body and his mind, finally at ease. 

Adrien was finally able to sleep restfully, finally finding his querencia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So this chapter was just me trying to fit in as many unknown words as possible. Call it what you will; vocabulary building, the author's wish to revive long forgotten words, or forcing you to learn new things. So I've left some vocabulary down for you all. Don't hesitate to comment down below if you want anymore words defined! As for this chapter, we're finally getting into some physical interactions. Hopefully everything was okay! I have to read up on Lugano for the next chapter, as I have never actually been there. Wish me luck! 
> 
> Illecebrous: enticing, alluring
> 
> Trouvaille: A lucky find, a valuable discovery, something found by chance
> 
> Querencia: a place where one feels safe, a place from which one's strength of character is drawn.
> 
> As always; 
> 
> Love,  
> Cutesylittledemon


	9. A Lesson Learned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien model and angst ensues.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* 

Adrien startled awake, at the thundering sound echoing through the dim room. Adrien's eyes blinked, opening slightly, but when silence filled the room once more he convinced his half asleep self that he dreamed the noise and closed his eyes again. He snuggled into something soft, and held whatever he was holding a bit tighter. He was having the most pleasant dream...

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* 

Adrien's eyes flew open as he felt whatever was beneath him shift. He jerked his head up, his heart in his throat, when his brain finally processed that it was only Marinette. He blew out his breath in a sigh of relief, settling his head back onto her chest. His eyes flew wide open again as he woke up a bit more, and realized the position they were in. He had been lying on her shoulder (her chest really, but it was early in the morning and Adrien wasn't ready yet to see past his denial) with his arms around her waist. Adrien shifted his feet, feeling them brush against the bare skin of Marinette's legs. 

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* 

The knocking became louder and even more insistent. He sighed and wondered how long Nathalie would keep knocking, but as the knocking continued he felt Marinette shift in his arms. He saw her eyes blink: she was waking up. He breathed another sigh, before disentangling his legs from hers and prying his arm from out from under her as gently as he could. Adrien rolled off his side of the bed, and made his way to the door. Opening it with a yawn, forcing Nathalie to pause mid-knock. 

Nathalie observed his appearance with a frown on her lips and a wrinkle in her brow, and he felt his cheeks flush as he remembered he didn't have a shirt on. He crossed his hands in front of his chest and mumbled out a sleepy good morning. 

"Good morning, Adrien. It is six o'clock." 

"It is six o'clock." He repeated after her drowsily. 

"Yes, Adrien it is six o'clock and we are supposed to be starting photography sessions at eight. And here you two are, still sleeping. We still have to dress you two, and there's hair and makeup and of course you two will have to be fed...

As Nathalie droned on, Adrien could feel exhaustion overcome him. He raked a hand down his face and tried to wake himself up. Suddenly he perked up as his sleep deprived brain finally processed what she said.

"Wait, its six o' clock..." He started slowly. 

"Yes, Adrien, that's what I said. Now please listen to m---" 

"Six, in the morning?" 

Nathalie took in such a deep breath that her eyes closed, she released her breath with a sigh. 

"Yes, Adrien. It is six o'clock in the morning. Six o' seven, by now, actually as I was knocking for quite a long time. And we have a very busy day ahead of ourselves." Nathalie sighed again as she looked up at the boy with messy hair and blood shot eyes. 

"Can you and Marinette get yourselves up, showered and fed, following your dietary restrictions, in an hour? I need you to meet us in the hotel lobby at seven." 

He nodded at her languidly. She returned to her apathetic air, and nodded back. Turning on her heel, Adrien heard another sigh as he watched her disappear into the elevator. He closed the door, and slumped against it. His face skidding downwards against it as he groaned. 

"Looks like our beauty sleep is over." 

Adrien responded to Marinette's comment with a strangled sound, his face skidding even farther down the door. After he was done contemplating death over actually functioning, he glanced at Marinette out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting up in bed, looking just as dishevled and tired as he felt. They both stayed where they were, pausing a moment, trying to convince themselves that they didn't really have to move. Adrien probably would have stayed longer, but Marinette breathed a heavy sigh and moved off the bed to open the curtains. He winced at the brightening light that now streamed across the room. 

Marinette made a squawking sound, and Adrien straightened up and turned around in alarm. Moving towards her, he was half way across the room when she turned to him, her eyes sparkling. 

"Adrien, that's a lake!" 

He chuckled as he came up behind her and looked over her shoulder. 

"Yeah, its Lake Lugano." He reached around Marinette and dragged the sliding glass door to the terrace open. Marinette rushed out, leaning over the balcony to get a better view. She was leaning so far, that it caused Adrien to panic and scramble after her. Hands hovering over her hips, ready to grab them if she tipped forward anymore. 

They stayed that way for a while, Marinette soaking in the view, and Adrien hovering over her like a mother hen. After a moment, Marinette lowered off her tip toes and leaned back. Adrien breathed a sigh of relief, and moved to stand beside her, leaning his arms on the railing. 

"It's beautiful." She said softly, as if she were afraid her volume would somehow ruin the serenity. Adrien looked up at her to see her eyes shining, and such a happy contented smile gracing her lips that he couldn't help but smile too. 

His parents used to take him on vacations here when he was young, his mother loved the quaint and enticing little town. The view has long been lost on him, but seeing Marinette's reaction made him look out upon Lugano with a bit brighter eyes. 

They stood there for a moment, in contented silence. But it could only last so long, after all a moment isn't much time at all (but perhaps it's just enough). 

"Ah, we'd better hurry. We both have to shower after all, and go eat breakfast downstairs." Marinette turned towards the door, and began to hurry through, but turned to cast one more look over her shoulder. As she started to turn her head back, she caught Adrien's eye, and threw him a smile. Then she was gone. 

Maybe, this trip won't be so bad after all. He thought before following her through into the room. 

 

 

Adrien stepped into the steaming shower and let all his muscles relax. He'd had let Marinette shower first, so he was quite surprised that there was still hot water left. He had just finished his taxing shower routine, when he heard a knock and Marinette calling through the door. 

"Adrien! Can I come in and do my makeup really quick?! Its already 7:40!" 

_Is it already that late?_

"Yeah, give me a minute, I'm almost done!" He called back. 

He shut off the water and got out, quickly toweling himself off. He put on his expensive lotion that was supposed to help his skin look glowy and youthful. He grabbed his clothes, put on his boxers and pants, then the shirt but didn't bother buttoning it up before he scrambled to the door. He threw the door open, letting all the steam escape. Marinette dashed in as he dashed out to go grab his hair dryer. 

He grabbed it from his open suitcase and sprinted back into the bathroom. He plugged it in, and started blow drying his hair, ignoring the amused looks Marinette was giving him as she finished her eye shadow. She had already finished her eyeliner and mascara and was applying lipstick as he finally finished his hair. Quickly he grabbed his moisturizer and squirted a too large amount on his hands. He smeared it on his face, and looked down in distress at the amount still left on his hands. His head jerked up as an idea crossed his mind. 

"Marinette, come here." 

"Why?" 

He lifted his hands to her cheeks and began slathering all over her skin. He rubbed it into her cheeks, squishing them together before beginning to move up the sides of her face to her forehead. 

I swear, Adrien, if you mess up my eyeliner..." She let the warning trail off as he carefully went around her eyeliner and up over her forehead. His touch got more delicate and gentle as he went in between her eyebrows and down her nose. He was again cautious when he reached her cupid bow, and continued around her mouth to her chin. He returned back to her cheeks to rub in the product he distributed. 

"There, now you're moisturized." 

"If I break out, I'm blaming you." 

Adrien glanced at his phone; 7: 51 am. Taking Marinette by the shoulders, he spun her around and corralled her out of the bathroom. Now not so much in a hurry, he noticed the off white sundress she wore. It was a halter top, with embroidery on the top. Cinched in a bit at the waist, the skirt was loose and flowy and stopped at midthigh. The dress was a white that almost seemed blue in certain light and wasn't very opaque. She had styled it with a simple pair of silver sandals. It looked very nice on her, but then again, Adrien hadn't really found anything yet that didn't look nice on her. 

"You can, but later. Right now we have to get going. 

"Adrien." 

" If we hurry maybe we can swing by the breakfast bar and grab a muffin or something." 

With a hand on her back, he lead her through the door, grabbing his wallet, the room key and her purse at the last minute. Resolute on his muffin, he started towards the elevators, when Marinette's voice called him back. 

"Adrien." 

He turned towards her, trying not to seem too impatient, but he really wanted a muffin before Nathalie could catch him and make him eat something that fit into his dietary restrictions. 

Marinette shook her head a bit and started towards him with an amused smile. He cocked his head and looked at her with slight confusion and concern. As she reached him, he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, when she reached out and tugged at the bottom of his shirt. He looked down, his mouth stretched into an O, as he realized he forgot to button his shirt. Marinette's long and nimble fingers quickly and deftly buttoned to the top, leaving two unbuttoned just as he liked. 

"Now we can go get your muffin." She patted him on the chest and moved past him into the open elevator. 

He grinned at her and romped into the elevator, nearly bouncing on his toes from excitement. 

 

 

As the entered the lobby, they stealthily went around Nathalie and her team and ducked into the dining area to grab something quick to eat. Adrien chose a delicious chocolate chip muffin in a package **(scandalous)** and Marinette grabbed a pastry of some kind. The both moved to the coffee, taking the to-go cups, Adrien poured in his coffee black while Marinette dumped creamer and sugar in hers. Heading back to the lobby, Adrien shoved the muffin in his mouth whole and then had to gulp the hot coffee. Marinette tried to shake her head disapprovingly but she let out a small giggle that ruined her act of disdain. 

The made their way back to Nathalie, with two minutes to spare.

Nathalie whisked them off to the Piazza Della Riforma,( the main square of Lugano) for a photo shoot. And so this was how the next couple of days were for them. They did photo shoots in scenic areas, they went to recognizable shops for more photo shoots, and guess what, they went to fancy restaurants to do even more, you guessed it, photo shoots. Everywhere they went, they were told to show more affection, less affection; to stand a certain way, but not that way; to tilt their heads a certain angle, now its too much angle. All day, from seven in the morning until eleven at night. Publicity, publicity and more publicity. But Marinette had negotiated (bullied) Nathalie, into giving them the last three days to themselves to do whatever they wanted in Lugano. 

_Only one more day_ , Adrien thought as he threw himself down onto the bed beside Marinette where she had plopped down only seconds before. 

_One more day. I just have to get through one more day, it'll be a piece of cake._

Or so he thought. 

 

"AdRiEN!"

"Yes?" 

"Go talk to Marinette! Make her be reasonable! Get her down to the pool, we need to get water shots today! We'll just have to do hair and makeup touch ups down there!" Nathalie huffed, as she stalked out the door taking the crew that was crowding around their hotel room. Adrien had been waiting for half an hour in his predetermined swimming trunks, for Marinette to be declared ready by the stylist and hair and makeup team.

Adrien headed to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. 

"Marinette?" He called softly. 

"I'm not coming out." Her voice came through the door muffled but resolute. 

"Why not?" 

There was a pause. 

"I can't go out in this. "

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's-It's-I'm not comfortable...in it." 

"Marinette, just let me see it, " He coaxed, 

The door opened slowly, and just enough for Marinette to stick her head out. Her entire face was the color of a firetruck, Adrien stood back from the door to give her enough room to come out. She glance around, chewing on her lip. 

"It's just you, right?" 

He looked down at her softheartedly, she really was uncomfortable. 

"Yes, its only me. The others are waiting down at the pool." He said gently. 

She looked around again, before hesitantly opening the door. 

Adrien's eyes widen and he inhaled a sharp breath. They had dressed Marinette in a black string bikini, that was a lot more string than actual bikini. 

"See! I can't go out in this!"Marinette turned away from him, trying to cover herself with her hands, her hair cascading to hide half of her face. 

Adrien went to lay a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but hesitated. She was already so uncomfortable, would it make it worse if he touched her? He hesitated for a moment more before touching her shoulder lightly, the pads of his fingers barely touching her skin. 

"Do they have anything else you could wear? Something that you'd feel more comfortable in?" He asked softly. 

Marinette seemed to shrink in on herself. With her hair covering her face, Adrien couldn't make out her expression. 

"Well, it's just that a designer sent this to Nathalie to have me wear, and if the designer saw in the photos that I didn't wear it, it'd be an insult to her. It'd would also look bad for the Agreste company and might cause even more issues than Agreste already has." Marinette finished softly, and still refused to look at him. 

_Of course, the company takes priority over all else._ He thought bitterly. 

Acting on an impulsive decision, and without considering the consequences, he gently pulled Marinette into a hug. 

"Sorry." He muttered into her hair, ashamed(not for the first time) of having a connection to the Agreste company.

Marinette gave a watery chuckle. 

"It's not your fault." 

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she squeezed tightly, drawing in a deep breath before releasing both it, and Adrien.

"I'm alright now, really. We only have one more day anyways."

As she walked towards the door, he reached out a hand to grab hers. He didn't really know why, he couldn't truly do anything about the situation, but he wished he could. She stopped but didn't look back at him. 

"I'm fine now, Adrien, really. Let's just go and get this over with."

Those words caused his heart to sink just a little bit more. "Let's just get this over with." The phrase echoed in his mind. It was his entire mindset since...well, since his mother disappeared. He knew that with that phrase came putting your feelings to the side and forcing a smile. He knew that in order to do so, you had to numb yourself; so you didn't feel anything at all. Real emotions didn't have a place in his world, and it broke his heart that Marinette just learned this lesson like he had to, so many years ago. 

He let her fingers slip from his hand, feeling powerless and frustrated. And as Marinette reached the door, she turned and gave him a bright smile. With that smile, brought a stab to his chest. 

"Ready? They're waiting for us." 

He went to join her at the door silently, once again reaching out to hold her hand, but this time only to continue to illusion. It seemed Marinette had already learned the lesson, perhaps a little too well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I know its been a long time and I actually forgot to copy a few chapters to this from wattpad (wattpad was where I started this fic because I had more of a following) but I'm going to upload all the chapters I have written, including the new one!


	10. Steady As Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More angst...honestly, do you expect anything else by now?

Adrien pulled Marinette to his chest, trying his best to cover her while masking it as affection. The photographer had already gotten quite a few shots, many of which were the most intimate and affectionate Marinette and him had ever taken. Mostly because Adrien was trying his damn best to make Marinette feel as comfortable as possible. 

There was one with him lying flat in a pool lounge chair, Marinette laying on top of him. His head tipped back, giving the photographer a intense look all the while upside down, his hands on Mari's waist. Marinette herself, was laying on top of him, her legs bent at the knee and her ankles crossed in the air. Her hands rested on his bare chest; occasionally, lightly, running her fingers over it. They took many shots in this position as was normal, but Adrien's favorite was the one where he had just whispered something into Marinette's ear and in the photo she's looking down at him, laughter and happiness lighting up her face while he whipped right back into his intense gaze as soon as the photographer said "Ready". He thought the contrasting emotions were beautifully represented here, and he had started to find that while Marinette was drop dead gorgeous all the time, he definitely preferred it when she was smiling. 

Another shot had him on the side of the pool, feet in the water, and Marinette in the pool, in between his legs. She had her hands on his thighs, her big blue eyes innocent as she looked up at him. His eyes, however, held no innocence. Instead a smirk decorated his face as he held two fingers under her chin to tilt her head back. (This shot was quite suggestive and was shot from the side as to showcase both model's emotions) 

Next they were both in the water, Adrien coming behind Marinette and wrapping an arm around her stomach and around across her chest, with his hand grasping her shoulder. Her hand came up to gently rest on his forearm, and on an impulse decision made on his part, he adjusted so that he was gently kissing the shoulder his chin had previously been resting on. 

*Click!**Click!**Click!**Click!*

The camera went off again and again. 

Photos. Photos. Photos. 

But Adrien didn't mind. He didn't care how long it was taking. He didn't care how embarrassing the poses were. He didn't care how many pictures had to be taken in one pose. He didn't care. All he cared about was trying to conceal Marinette and to get her out of here as fast as possible. 

So that had led them here, to the final shot. His hands were around her waist, bringing her close to his chest. Letting one hand drift higher up her back, it allowed him to pull her even closer, eliminating whatever small bit of space there was before. With his other hand, he cupped her face, permitting his thumb to caress her cheek. A blush blossomed over her cheeks, her eyes puzzled and questioning. He tried to communicate everything he wanted to say with his eyes, knowing that so much was lost in the translation. But for a single moment, blue and green threaded across wide, light plains and over dark, deep mountains; for a single moment, blue and green shyly danced around each other before meeting; for a single moment, blue and green connected explosively, dancing together, alternating between passion and demure. For a single moment, but as we know, those don't last long. 

"Perfect! Okay that's the last shot!" The photographer called to the crew. Marinette and Adrien separated. Adrien felt as if Marinette was slowly being peeled away from him, making it hard to breathe at the same time giving him the ability to suck air into his lungs. She backed up a few more steps, and Adrien could finally breathe normally. He closed his eyes and took in a big breath of cool air. 

The crew started to clean up, and Nathalie motioned them over. 

"Well, now that that's done, it's time to upkeep the bargain I made. From now on, you two are free to do whatever you choose. However, please do remember that the paparazzi will be watching and remember that you are a couple. Here are the tickets for the plane ride home, don't lose them. I'll send a stylist up to retrieve the items you two wore today." 

"Wait, you're leaving?" Adrien asked incredulously. 

"Well, there's nothing left for me to do here. You two don't need a babysitter, I hope. Your father needs me back at the company...besides this is your honeymoon. Although, I do believe your father is counting these next three days as your vacation, Adrien." 

Adrien grinned. He didn't even care that this used up his vacation days. He was just so happy and relieved to finally be given space to breathe. And given the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted. He couldn't remember the last time he was able to do that. 

"Thanks, Nathalie. We really appreciate this." Marinette said quietly, her eyes dark and unreadable. Adrien's mood dampened as he turned to look at her. She didn't seem like the usual Marinette he was used to. _Maybe she's still upset..._ He thought. He scrutinized her a bit closer. Her arm was crossed over her stomach, her hand gripping her other arm. Her eyes, while seeming to look back at Nathalie, were glazed over and glassy. Her face seemed to have no expression at all. He started to became concerned. 

"Don't mention it." Nathalie continued coolly, "Go upstairs and change out of those wet things. I'll send a stylist up in twenty minutes. We'll all be leaving this afternoon, call me if you need anything."

As Nathalie left, Marinette head towards the lobby with the elevators. Adrien hurried after her, trying to catch up enough to fall in step. He didn't catch up, even with his longer legs, until they reached the elevators. They filed into the elevator and Adrien tried to catch a glimpse of Marinette's expression but her head was down with her bangs covering her eyes. They rode the elevator silently and exited it the same way. They continued silent and awkward(at least on Adrien's part) all the way down the hallway. When they reached the room, Adrien slid the room key and unlocked the door. Upon entering the room, Marinette went straight to the bathroom to change. Adrien sighed before stripping off the wet trunks he was wearing and putting on some loose basketball shorts and a soft t-shirt. Marinette came out in jean shorts and a loose tank top the same time that Adrien heard a knock on the door. 

"Ah, that would be the stylist." He tried to give her a bright smile, but felt the falseness of it even on his own face. 

She tried to return it with a half-hearted smile of her own, but it was just as unconvincing as his. Grabbing a room key off the counter, she moved towards the door. Turning her head, she threw an excuse behind her. 

"I'm going to sketch in the garden." She opened the door, putting the dripping wet garments in the garment bags the stylist held. "Excuse me." She muttered, as she moved past the stylist into the hallway and was gone. 

Adrien moved up to put his own garments in the garment bag, exchange a few fake pleasantries and wish the stylist a safe trip home. He closed the door, turning around and slumping against the door. He let his body collapse until he finally reached the floor. Closing his eyes, he let his body rest. When he finally opened them, he glanced around the parts of the room that he could see when something caught his eye. 

Marinette had said she went to go sketch but....

Her sketchbook was lying on the coffee table. 

 

 

Marinette was gone the entire afternoon. At four, Adrien, relented. He gave up on waiting for her and went down to the gym the hotel offered. He found that working out let him release some of his frustrations that came from his stressful schedule and life. He felt that he could just put his mind on pause and focus all his attention on what his body was doing. 

He finally finished a two hour workout, feeling a bit more refreshed and calm. Heading back through the lobby, he overheard a customer checking in say; 

"Wow, the weather is really taking a turn for the worse out there, huh?" 

"Yeah, it'll probably start raining soon. But that's Lugano for you. At least its not as bad as the rest of Switzerland, up north."

Adrien left before he heard the rest of the conversation. He began to worry again. Was Marinette back yet? 

He hurried back up to the room, unlocking the door quickly, he threw the door open a bit more violently than he meant to. Ready to apologize, he stepped into the room only to find it empty. He sighed. 

_Well, I'll go shower and if she isn't back when I'm done I'll call her, he thought._

Content with his plan, he gathered his clothes and entered the bathroom. 

*Dialing* Adrien's heart raced as he rang Marinette and tried not to panic . When he came out of the shower, Marinette was still no where to be seen. Adrien gnawed at his lip and glanced at the window. The sky was dark; big, heavy clouds obscuring the blue. Then he heard it. 

*Ring* *Riing* *Riiing*

Marinette's ringtone...

Searching around the room, he found the source of the noise. Her cellphone, left behind, was buzzing on the bed. 

"Great." He muttered, ending the phone call. The great booming sound of thunder drew him to the window. Adrien watched as rain started to splatter against the window. Hesitating for a moment longer before he dashed to his suitcase and threw on a jacket and grabbed an extra one (he was familiar with Lugano's weather after all) and headed out the door. Hurrying to the elevator, entering and impatiently waiting as he continued down to the first floor. When the doors opened, he nearly ran across the lobby, going in the direction of the gardens. As he went, he heard more thunder and rain pounding against the walls of the hotel. 

Finally, his breath coming out heavier, he made it to the garden. Throwing open the doors, he rushed out a few steps, standing under the covered walkway and scanned the gardens. 

There! 

Right in the middle of the garden, was Marinette, standing in the pouring rain. 

"Marinette!" He called out to her, hoping she could hear him over the rain. She jerked in surprise, turning her head to look over her shoulder. When her eyes finally found him, he held up the jacket and shook it. She gave him a soft smile, before turning her head back to face straight. 

"Come join me!" She called back to him. Her voice almost seeming giddy (but Adrien could have been mistaken, the storm was loud after all.)

_What?_

_WhaT?_

_WHaT?_

He balked. Did he hear her right? She was willingly getting soaked...and she wanted him to join her???

.........

_Well...._

He stripped off his own jacket, setting both of them on a potted plant. Before heading out to join her, the rain saturating him more and more each minute. Upon reaching her, he asked; 

"Marinette...are you okay?" 

"I could ask you the same thing. You've called me by my full name all of today instead of Mari." 

"I just..." 

Marinette turned so quickly, water droplets splayed off her. 

"Adrien," She began softly, "Close your eyes and just breathe." 

He did as she said after a moment of hesitation. He let his eyelids close, blackness filling his vision. Taking deep breaths that filled his lungs, before blowing them out. He was beginning to think this was all stupid when suddenly, instead of just hearing the storm, he felt it. He felt each cry of thunder, it echoing within his bones and resonating within his soul. He felt each raindrop, becoming too heavy and finally falling, only to crash and explode onto whatever they hit. He felt the lightning, causing the darkness behind his eyes to go white for just a second before it was gone again. He felt the storm. And he breathed it in. 

He didn't know how long he stood there, but he knew that after a while Marinette took his hands into hers. Leaning her forehead very light (almost hesitantly) on his chest, she whispered;

"I'm okay now, I promise. I just needed a while. Sorry." 

"It's okay." He muttered, still riding the high of the storm. 

He felt her forehead leave his chest, and gathered that she was finally looking up at him. 

"Are you alright?" 

He nodded. 

"I'm better now, I think. Although I can't really say what was wrong." 

"Mmm." 

The silence that surround them was comfortable. The rain still beating patterns against their skin. Marinette breathed a small sigh, but when Adrien opened his eyes to see what was the matter, she was smiling up at him. But in an almost seemingly heartbroken way. 

"Lets go in, shall we?" 

And suddenly Adrien understood. 

He lead her over to where the jackets lay, handing one to her before pulling one on himself they headed back. But as they entered the hallway, Marinette's small hand reached for his, entwining their fingers. And just like that, they walked back to their room. 

They had gotten back to their room and they changed for what felt like the thousandth time today when Adrien mention that she left her phone on the bed. 

You tried to call me?" Marinette looked up from where she had bent over to check her phone questioningly. Adrien ran a hand through his hair and refused to meet her eyes, a blush blossoming over his cheeks. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He muttered. 

"Oh..." She looked back down at her phone guiltily, her lip between her teeth. Marinette straightened up, letting her hair loose from where it had been confined up in a towel. 

"Adrien, do you mind me asking you something? Something kind of weird?" She asked suddenly, throwing the towel onto the pile of other dirty towels, pointedly not looking at him. 

Alarm bells went off in Adrien's mind, but he decided to ignore them. 

"Shoot." He said as he sat on the bed. 

Staring straight ahead, Marinette's cheeks started to flush. 

"W-well, I just, I mean today we got pretty intimate...even though that was just modeling and not real...but-but, we're married so...I...only mean...not that you _have_ to just cause we're married...or what I mean to say is....."She covered her mouth with a hand. "I should be able to do this, I'm a grown ass woman." Adrien heard her mutter to herself. He watched a bit alarmed as she drew in a big breath. 

"Justfortonightdoyoumindcuddlingwithme!" 

A pause hung in the air, Adrien's eyes widening as he comprehended her words. His jaw dropping, he nodded jerkily, still trying to make his mouth move. 

"Yes, I mean no! I don't mind at all, we can cuddle! Yes, I'd love to cuddle!" His cheeks flamed as his words came out too fast. 

There was an awkward pause where they would glance at each other and then quickly look away when their eyes met, faces becoming redder with each glance. 

"Oh, screw this." Marinette muttered. She crawled over the edge of the bed and when she reached Adrien, sat herself in his lap. 

"There!" She said triumphantly, but Adrien noticed her cheeks were still red. Chuckling a bit at how awkward they were at twenty five, he pulled her hips gently so that she was laying against him in a more comfortable position. Wrapping his arms around her much like earlier, with one arm around her stomach and the other across her chest, he again let his chin rest on her shoulder. Marinette's hand came up, her fingertips lightly grazing his arm. They stayed like this, growing comfortable with one another presence being so close. 

"So what are we gonna do for the next three days in Lugano?" Marinette turned towards him a bit, and he raised an eyebrow in mock question. 

"Since you're the one whose been here and all, so you know what's fun to do." 

Adrien shifted so that his chin now rested on the top of her head. 

"Hmmm," Adrien closed his eyes and allowed himself to take in Marinette's warmth. She giggled at the vibrations the sound caused before tilting her head back to look up at him. 

"So?" 

"Weeeeeeell," Adrien drew out, "I suppose one day we could go see the town, all the shops and such and then another we can go do all the nature stuff, hike up to Monte San Salvatore, take a ferry ride and go see the lake. Then the third day we can do whatever we missed, or some of our favorites. Or we could just have a lazy day to relax." 

"That sounds wonderful. So what are we gonna go do tomorrow?" She sank a little deeper into his lap and he had to shift his grip, both of his arms coming to wrap just under her bust, pulling her tighter against him. 

"That's for you to decide." He mumbled into her hair. He watched her purse her lips, trying to decide. 

"Let's do the nature day first, then the shopping day and then the third day we'll decide later." 

"That sounds good to me." 

Adrien held her for a second longer before moving to scope her up and set her beside him. He smiled at her surprised face. Wriggling down under the blanket, he patted the space beside him. 

"We can still cuddle while we lay down, but its been a long day and we're both tired." 

She gave him a bright smile before moving to the spot he insinuated. Lying facing him, Adrien waited until she was comfortable before wrapping his arms around her and tangling his fingers in her hair. Her arms encircled his waist, her hands slipping under his shirt. She dragged her fingers gently until the settled on his upper back, where they softly brushed against his skin. 

With his fingers playing with her hair, and hers stroking his skin; soon their breathing became rhythmic and even. Content and at ease with one another, they slept, the intimate position they engaged in remained undisturbed. Their hearts beating as steady as the rain drumming outside. 

As they laid there, two hearts were starting to come together. Yes, as they laid there, only a heartbeat away from one another.


	11. Really, Really Pretty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some fluff, also I am here for both of these kids taking a break and breathing #letthemsleep2018

Adrien was jolted awake by the horrendous beeping of the alarm clock. Groggily, he reached across Marinette and turned it off. Wrapping his arm around her again and nuzzling deeper into the back of her neck, Adrien sighed happily. He knew that they should get up soon if they wanted to beat the heat for their hike today, but he just couldn't force his exhausted body to move from the sleeping form lying next to him. _A few more minutes won't hurt,_ he thought. He tried to settle back into the sleep he was so rudely interrupted from, but now that he was awake, he couldn't get back to sleep. 

He raised himself up onto his elbow, grumpily gazing around the room until his eyes drifted back to the girl in bed. His mood fading away instantly, replaced with a gentle smile and fond endearment. He reached out lightly to brush the hair away from her face. With her pale complexion and dark features Marinette was always striking, but as Adrien let his fingers linger on her cheek, he realized that Marinette was _pretty_. Of course, he always knew that she was. He always knew that the majority of his female friends were attractive, they were beautiful. But it had never physically affected him. He had never put emotions to the adjectives. But now... Marinette was just... very, very pretty. 

Adrien startled a bit when she shifted in her sleep. He realized with shame and guilt, how creepy this probably looked; just him awake, staring at her, smiling creepily and stroking her cheek? Totally creepy. Totally and completely creepy, and she was going to wake up any second and... He pulled his hand back quickly and pretended to be asleep. It was a few moments of a jagged heart beat and failed efforts of trying to make his breathing even, before he realized that Marinette was still deep asleep. He slowly raised up again. Come to think of it, she didn't even stir when the alarm went off. He chuckled softly as he remembered her sneaking into class late after she had overslept. How she got anywhere on time, he would never know. He took one more fond glance at her before sighing and making his way out of bed. 

Adrien threw back the blanket covering him and staggered over to the bathroom. 

_I'll shower first and left her sleep, He thought, she definitely needs it._

 

 

"Adrien! Hurry up!" Marinette called back over her shoulder. Adrien chuckled a bit breathlessly before increasing his pace. They had been hiking for a little over two hours and were nearing the summit. 

He had suggested that they take the funicular up to the Summit then hike down Morcote, but Marinette had insisted they hike up Monte San Salvatore. Adrien didn't mind really, especially since Marinette was so excited about everything. Her excitement was infectious and he was beginning to see Lugano in a new light. Well, if he was being honest, he was seeing everything in a new light these days. 

"I can see the top! C'mon, Adrien, you're taking forever." Marinette was further ahead now, and even Adrien had to admit that he was lagging. The trail was fairly easy, with only a moderate difficulty level and normally Adrien would have breezed through it. 

Adrien groaned as pain shot up his calves into his inner thighs. Maybe he did go too hard at the gym yesterday, He thought. But he had to relieve his frustrations somehow, and exercise always seemed to help. Unfortunately, when he was stressed he welcomed any physical pain that could take his mind off his emotions and too often, he didn't listen to his body when it was screaming to stop. 

He stopped to take a breath, hands on knees, while he tried to convince himself to take another step. He had just about succeeded, when small hands came swimming into his view. 

"Adrien, are you alright?" Marinette asked gently, her hands lightly grasping his where they rested on his knees.

He managed to look up at her with a grin. 

"Just a bit sore, Mari, nothing to worry about." He responded, trying to make his voice light and easy. 

_Just grit your teeth and bare it, Agreste._ He reprimanded himself. 

Marinette took her hands off his and watched him cautiously as he straightened. She didn't miss the wince on his face as he took another step. 

"I'm tired, I think I need a break, Adrien." She announced suddenly and plopped onto a large rock that bordered the trail. 

"What? Weren't you so excited to reach the top, and we're almost there!" Adrien shielded his eyes as he looked upwards toward the top in confusion. 

"The top will still be there after we take a break. Its okay to take a breath, you know?" Marinette said quietly as she leaned back on her hands and closed her eyes, " Just stop and feel the sun, the wind, the air. Its all so pure up here." 

Adrien watched her in curiosity before joining her on the rock. Intertwining his fingers in hers, he lifted his face up to the sky and closed his eyes too. He could hear birds chirping and water gurgling somewhere in the distance. He could smell the dirt, the pure air, just as Marinette had mentioned. He could physically feel the wind and small amount of sun trickling in from the trees sun on his face. But the longer he sat the more he could see. He could see everything and nothing, all at once. He could see the green fronds growing from the earth. He could see the trees stretching to reach the sky, all the while remaining stable and grounded. He could see the earth around them growing, and the longer they sat there, the more he felt that he was growing with it. 

He didn't need to open his eyes to see her. He didn't need to see her at all, actually. He heard the steadiness of her breath. In and out. He smelled the scent of her shampoo, carried to him on the breeze. He felt her; the warmth of her soul, the kindness of her thoughts, the beat of her heart. His emotions swirled and composed to create her, and Adrien didn't need to see her at all to know that he...

"Oh, Adrien look!" Marinette breathed. A small rabbit had ventured out of hiding and had made its way to the small bush across from them. As though alerted by their awareness, the rabbit stopped, looked at them with its nose wiggling, before bounding away again. 

"And there is goes." Marinette said wistfully. She got up from the rock and dusted off her butt. "Well, ready to go?" 

He grinned at her and then mimicked her actions. 

"Lead the way, princess." He teased lightly, with a slight bow. 

"Ha ha, very funny." She responded by giving him a light shove. Somehow, her hand found its way back into his and the pace of their hike slowed to a leisure stroll. Neither of them had to say anything, content with each other's presence. 

That is until they reached the viewing point. They had made it all the way up the stairs into the church that stood at the top and onto the terrace, before Marinette started to get excited again. Adrien grinned as he allowed himself to be dragged for a bit, before releasing her hand as she ran to the railing. The terrace allowed for a 360 full view of the mountain top. Marinette spun around slowly in amazement as she tried to take it all in. 

"It's beautiful." She said breathlessly. 

"Yeah, it really is." Adrien responded just as breathlessly, but he wasn't looking at the scenic views, but rather at a blue eyed girl, whose stray dark curls that had escaped from the hair tie that held them, twirled and looked at the world around her in wonder. 

A silly grin found its way onto his face, and he went to join Marinette. He pointed out landmarks and told her the facts he knew about them. She listened rapturously, pointing out things she found interesting and asking him if he knew anything about it. After a while, they went silent. Marinette took his hand again and leaned her head on his shoulder. She sighed happily. 

"What?" Adrien asked quietly. 

"Nothing, its just really, really pretty is all." She said as she moved a bit closer to him, her other hand that was not in his coming to wrap around his bicep. 

Adrien took a sharp breath before blowing it out slowly. 

"It really is." 

 

 

A round of tourists came up shortly after that, and interrupted the peaceful scene with loud voices and the snapping of a camera. 

"Ah, we should do that, Adrien." Marinette said while gazing at them. 

"Do what, be loud?" He snorted. 

"No," she swatted his chest lightly, "Take a picture here at the summit." 

"Ah, alright." He agreed before taking out his phone. He put an arm around her waist and brought her in closer with his cheek resting against her head before sticking his arm out and up to take the photo. 

"Smile!"

He let Marinette swipe through the multitude of photos he took and let her delete any of the photos that she thought looked bad. He did intervene on the one that had her face crinkled up in laughter. It was so genuine and he had such a giddy feeling when he looked at it, that there was no way he was going to let her delete it (no matter how much she protested and said that she looked like a troll). 

They began the last bit of the hike down to Morcote, their final destination when Adrien had an idea. He began taking pictures. Silly ones of Marinette sticking her tongue out at him over her shoulder or ones of her posing in front of giant rocks and trees. His favorites, however, was the photos he got when she didn't know he was taking them. There was one where she was looking around in admiration, a happy smile on her face. And another, where she was standing at the edge of a drop off and the wind was blowing her hair out of her face, the sunlight shining perfectly to accent the picture and made her look gracefully and majestic. (Adrien would like to note that a second after that, the wind blew the wind in her face and while she was trying to get it out of her mouth she nearly fell off that same drop off...he got a picture of that too.) But Adrien's favorite picture had to be the last one he took before they reached Morcote. They were taking a small break, with Marinette sitting on a log, and him, sitting on a slightly taller rock next to her. Marinette was chatting with him before pulling her hair out of her hair tie in order to redo it. Her hair tumbled out onto her shoulders, poufy and kinked where the hair tie had been. Still, the sight took his breath away. She was still talking to him and trying to smooth her hair down before she put it back up. That was when Adrien snapped the picture. 

They moved on shortly after that, but Adrien would never delete that picture that illustrated Marinette so stunningly. With her striking blue eyes seeming to stare directly at you, even through the picture, A smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose that most people never see, her lips pulled into a slight smile with her mouth open and about to say something, and her hair framing her face in a wild mess. It was sight to behold. And not for the first time today, Adrien thought to himself: _She is really, really pretty._

When they got to Morcote, they immediately sought out a restaurant to appease their growling stomachs. There they chatted and laughed, and Adrien finally got to rest his aching legs. After lunch, they wandered the small, winding streets that contained quaint shops and historic buildings. Marinette stopped every two minutes to take a picture of something that she wanted to sketch later. Adrien just shook his head affectionately and relished in the slow pace they had set for themselves until he noticed the sun getting lower in the sky. 

"Mari, we'd better head back, its getting late." 

She pouted a bit, obviously not ready to leave, but consented anyways. They made their way over to a ferry that would take them back to Lugano. Marinette was still fairly energetic through the first half of the ride, pointing out the birds flying in the sky and all the trees lining the lake. After they reached half way, however, she began winding down. She settled against Adrien, and he couldn't have been happier when he put an arm around and tugged her close. Her hands wrapped around his waist and her legs came to tuck underneath her. 

"Tired?" He mumbled into her hair. She made a sound of agreement. Adrien settled back into his seat and heaved a happy sigh, with a smile on his lips.

"Hey, Adrien?" Marinette asked, sitting up a bit and looking up at him. Her lip was between her teeth, a sign he learned long ago that meant she was thinking too hard about something and, most likely, worrying. He brought a hesitant hand up to stroke her hair to try and comfort her. 

"What's up?" 

"Thank you. For this. It was really nice today, I had a lot of fun. And thank you for coming with me and doing the hike, I'm sure you would have rather just have slept today. And I know you were really sore and in pain b--." She was beginning to babble, a hand coming up to tug at a strand from her pony tail. 

"Mari," He interrupted gently, "I had a lot of fun too." He brought his forehead to rest against hers with his fingers still running through her hair, a smile on his lips. Marinette swallowed hard, and closed her eyes as she moved forwardly slightly so that their noses were touching. Suddenly, Adrien couldn't breathe. She was too close. She was too...there. He breathed out raggedly, dragging his hand to the side of her face he tilted her jaw closer to his. His heart beating erratically, as his lips just barely brushed hers. Marinette stretched her neck up and both of them could feel each other, just almost a heart beat away, Adrien leaned down, ready to close whatever space was between them--

"TEN MINUTES TO LUGANO!" A voice blared over the loud speaker. 

Adrien and Marinette jumped apart, cheeks burning and eyes avoiding contact. Marinette giggled awkwardly (if a bit hysterically) before burying her face in his chest. 

"Sorry, I made that weird." She mumbled. 

He considered her hunched form for a minute before wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. 

"I don't know, I think I kind of like weird." He whispered. She giggled again, before looking up at him. When their eyes met, once again blue danced with green in what could be called both a dance and a battle. Before long, Marinette broke the contact as they both broke out into laughter. 

Marinette's laughter subsiding, she settled back onto his chest. With a small sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist again, seeming satisfied with staying that way the entire trip. Before she got too comfortable, she looked up at the sky and added, almost in an afterthought; 

"It truly is really, really pretty here." 

She closed her eyes and let herself go boneless against his chest. Adrien wrapped his arms around her before whispering into her hair something barely audible. 

"You really are."

 

 

**Authors Note: "Google, how do you apologize to readers for not updating since June?"**

**...I'm sorry guys, Life has once again gotten in the way. But I'm back! and I have this! Honestly, I've been putting off Lugano for a while because there was so much research that needed to be done and I really wanted to depict it as realistic and accurately as possible for someone who has never been there. But I just finally bit the bullet and did it. There are two more parts to Lugano, so don't think this is it! Also how did you guys like that almost kiss scene? Lugano is going to be really fluffy and I was missing the angst soooo...#sorrynotsorry**

**Hopefully I'll be better about updating, but I won't make any promises. I start University again in a few weeks so we'll see how much time I have.**

**Annywaays, you know I always appreciate you guys and I always love your responses!**

 

 **Love forever,**

**cutesylittledemon**


	12. Maybe

Adrien's form hunched as he was weighed down with a multitude of shopping bags. He chuckled halfheartedly, _that's what you get for letting a fashion designer roam the horde of clothing shops and boutiques that were scattered all across Lugano._

__Of course, not all the bags were hers._ _

__They had woken up early (again) because Marinette had heard about a farmers market that ran on Tuesdays and Fridays from 7 am to 12 pm. She had turned her big, blue gaze on him, a plea on her pink lips, and Adrien knew he would agree to anything that she wanted. (Not that he wasn't secretly excited to go ~~eat~~ see all the interesting new foods.)_ _

__

__The had wandered around the busy streets of the busy piazza where the Palazzo Civico stood , trying the booths that had samples and picking up strange fruits, jellies and candies they couldn't get in Paris._ _

__Adrien was in absolute heaven. He had thrown his dietary restrictions to the wind that boosted the wings of the plane that had taken Nathalie back to France. He scarfed down pastries, bread, honey, fruits, vegetables, chocolate and was willing to try any other strange treats that were offered to him. Marinette eyed him in a mix of exasperation and shock at just how much he could eat. Speaking of Marinette, Adrien was quite enjoying all the jealous looks that he was receiving from having her on his arm._ _

__Although, it was already a bit difficult trying to hold her hand when he was burdened by all the bags of food he had bought (and that was before they had moved on from the market.)._ _

__After they moved on from the farmers market, the adventure continued. They traveled winding, sloping streets. Passing cafes like the Grand Cafe Al Porto which has been standing since 1803 and whose entire interior still reflected the medieval convent it once was; strolling by jewelry shops that specialized in Swiss watches, such as Gioielleria Prezios; wandering into bakeries that had bread hanging from the ceiling (the bakeries didn't interest Marinette but impressed Adrien to no end, whom managed to buy something from every bakery they entered); and of course, the clothing shops--They went into high end Gucci haute couture shops (Gucci, Hermes, Jil Sander) near the Via Nassa, Emerold board shop which was tucked in between banks and department stores, S2 , Il cappello(this one got Marinette very excited as they are a custom clothing shop) and then finally, El Catto which Marinette managed to find by accidentally making a wrong turn that took them down twisting, narrow streets. And these were only the shops that Adrien could remember the names of._ _

__When she dragged him into a second hand clothing store, he couldn't help but let his eyes widen at the sight. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason, no order to the shop and yet it still felt warm and inviting. Marinette seemed to have a knack for finding places like that. He stared at the colors all swirling together, and there! To the left a purple feather boa paired with a floppy leopard hat and to the right! A wall of shoes where a a pair of neon heels sat next to a pair of platform boots with spikes. Gabriel would have killed him for even setting foot in a store like this, but Marinette just pulled on his hand with a grin and began picking clothes at random. It must have taken quite a while, but it seemed like seconds later she was pushing him towards the dressing room giggling as she handed him a pile of clothes with the instructions to try them on in order. Adrien burst out of the dressing room in a banana yellow suit, complete with a bright yellow bow-tie and yellow star shaped sunglasses as he posed for the girl falling off her chair in laughter. The outfits steadily got sillier and sillier, and soon he convinced Marinette to join in on the fun. There was the big puke colored princess dress that he put her in, and there was the button up shirt that was covered in cats (which Adrien actually liked, much to Marinette's dismay) paired with cargo shorts and sandals that she picked for him. Marinette took a picture of them in each outfit, claiming it was just for the memories when questioned, but Adrien saw the mischievous gleam in her eye. So he laughed and posed for her pictures like the model he was._ _

__Normally, Adrien hated modelling. He hated being tussed up like a Christmas turkey. He hated twisting his body into torturous poses. He hated being treated like a human doll, an object that's appearance sells products. But today, he loved modelling. He loved dressing up in whatever odd clothing the giggle Marinette shoved in his hands. He loved contorting his body into ridiculous poses that made her snort and guffaw. He loved the way she looked at him as she snapped pictures of him and her together; mirth shimmering in her eyes, cheeks red and round, and, god, her smile so warm and bright. Adrien realized how much he loved modelling for her. Because when she looked up at him with such happiness radiating off her, Adrien felt complete. In this moment, Adrien felt _happy_. Truly happy. Utterly and completely happy. An emotion he thought he had forgotten how to feel. _ _

__(Plus, it helped that his heart squeezed affectionately as Marinette came out in the purple feather boa, floppy leopard hat, neon heels and a red dress and posed and spun for around him as he took pictures and chortled.)_ _

__After their little clothing adventure in the second hand shop where he had bought the cat shirt and sun glasses and Marinette bought the red dress and feather boa, he finally convinced Marinette to stop for lunch. They ate at an outdoor sandwich shop, where he practically inhaled two whole sandwiches. After lunch, Adrien managed to persuade Marinette to head back to the hotel to drop off their bags before heading out again._ _

__Marinette finally took pity on Adrien and suggested they take a break from walking and take the tourist train that toured the city. While on the ride, Marinette pointed out things she wanted to see later and Adrien pointed out things he knew information about. Halfway through the ride, Adrien finally gathered the courage to put an arm around her waist and tug her close. She had leaned her head on her shoulder and chattered happily while Adrien had pretended that the smile on his face was because of her enthusiasm and not because of how lovely she looked looking up at him._ _

__When the train ride ended, Adrien dragged Marinette into Laderach Chocolaterie SuisseSwiss chocolate shop. It wasn't the first chocolate shop he had drug her into, but really who could blame the boy? He was in a country famous for their chocolate, in a city that had a famous chocolate factory right outside of it for heavens sake, and he no longer had anyone around to scold him back into his dietary restrictions. He was taking his freedom and he was running with it. Luckily, Marinette only giggled at his antics and encouraged his small bit of rebellion by allowing him to buy all the chocolate he wanted. But even her eyes widened when he bought two huge boxes of chocolate and she nearly fainted when she heard the price. He had merely smiled at her giddily, saying one was a gift for Nino...probably. Before handing over his credit card, Adrien glanced at the display that Marinette was wringing her hands nervously by and on an impulse scooped up two more pieces of chocolate to add to the growing pile._ _

__"I don't think I've ever seen anyone spend so much money on chocolate." Marinette shook her head exasperated but with a trace of amusement._ _

__"Yeah, well normal people can buy and eat chocolate whenever they want." Adrien said breezily, taking Marinette's hand with his hand that wasn't holding the (huge) bag of chocolate. Marinette snorted._ _

__"So what, your gonna eat all that chocolate and all the rest of the food you bought today before we go back home?"_ _

__Adrien's heart warmed at her use of the words "home" and "we". He hummed in thought._ _

__"Nah, I'll just have to find a way to smuggle what I don't eat back onto Agreste property and then hide it. Oh! that reminds me!" Adrien dropped Marinette hand to rummage in the bag that held the chocolate. Making a sound of triumph as he finally found what he was looking for, he brought out the two pieces of chocolate he had bought._ _

__"Hold out your hand, Marinette." Adrien was nearly bouncing on his toes in excitement._ _

__"If this is a dead bird or a mouse or something..."Marinette warned but she couldn't hide the grin the split her face and obediently held out her hand._ _

__"Oh!" She breathed. Adrien had dropped a pink chocolate ladybug in her hands._ _

__With a wink and a grin, he showed that he had a matching chocolate ladybug but in green. "Pink's your favorite color, right? And I remember in high school you had a thing for ladybugs."_ _

__Marinette looked up at him, starstruck._ _

__"You remember...?" She asked quietly looking down at the brightly colored aluminum wrapped chocolate. Adrien watched her questioningly as she took a step forward and looked up at him before, very suddenly, throwing her arms around his neck. Adrien squeaked and nearly dropped his own ladybug at her sudden movements._ _

__"Thank you." She breathed into his neck._ _

__Adrien took a deep breath in to steady himself before wrapping his own arms around her waist. Any breath he did take in did not steady him in the slightest. She was so close. And with each inhale he could smell her perfume. And with each exhale, he could feel her breath on his neck. He willed her to stay like that, if only for a second longer, and his grip around her tightened. Marinette seemed to catch **(get it, cat-ch ;) ... I'm sorry)** the message, as her own grip tightened and she buried her face into his neck. If Adrien was functioning before (he wasn't), then Marinette nuzzling against his skin was enough to cause him to seize functioning all together. _ _

__Marinette was the first to let go. She loosened the hold on his neck enough that she could look back up at him._ _

__"You're incredibly sweet, you know that Adrien?" She asked with shining eyes and smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She was still so close that Adrien could feel her question blown across his lips. He let a goofy smile spill on his face._ _

__"Only for you." He whispered in the space between their lips._ _

__Marinette's breath caught. She leaned forward and her eyes started to close ever so slightly..._ _

__*Beep*_ _

__The sound of the scooter horn beeping behind them, made them jerk apart and scuttle out of way. Marinette cleared her throat and scuffed her toe on the ground while Adrien scratched his head, both looking anywhere else but each other._ _

__"Well, um, better get that chocolate back to the hotel before it melts, huh?" Marinette stuttered out._ _

__"Y-yeah, the hotel's close by so we can just drop this off and then continue where we left off...in our walk!" Adrien stammered._ _

__The two red faced adults glanced at each other before looking away again. They started in the direction of the hotel, but as they walked they hands found one another and their fingers intertwined._ _

__

__

__And that's how they had gotten to this point, their linked hands swinging as Marinette took pictures of arches, columns, iron work details, terraces with flowers, red benches that lined many of the streets, strangely, a gray camouflaged tree and anything else that caught her fancy. Meanwhile, Adrien watched her a smile on his face and, for once, was content._ _

__They had made their way down to the water front and were walking lazily along the sand that lined the water. Marinette made a squawking noise and Adrien looked down at her in concern as the tugging on his hand got more insistent._ _

__"Adrien--Hey Adrien! Look! Look, that's a swan!"_ _

__Adrien giggled at her childlike glee before having his breath stolen away when she turned to look back at him, her eyes shining and her lips curved into a smile so happy, his heart felt full just looking at it._ _

__He cleared his throat (and his thoughts) before bumping his hips into hers._ _

__"You realize we have swans back in Paris right, buginette?" He teased her lightly._ _

__"You know, if I realized that when you bought me that chocolate ladybug that it was going to come with bug related nicknames, I never would have accepted it." Marinette sniffed in false disdained._ _

__"Aw, c'mon, Bugaboo, you know you love them." Adrien crooned, delighting in the way Marinette's cheeks puffed out in a pout._ _

__Her mouth opened to retort but she was interrupted by the group of musicians they were passing starting a ballad._ _

__Adrien grinned before gently grabbing Marinette's waist and bringing her closer. Her hand instinctually went to his shoulder and he started them in a slow, lazy waltz in the street._ _

__"Dance with me, Marinette?" He asked lightly, the grin still on his face as he looked down into her eyes. Her cheeks blossomed red._ _

__"Dork, we're already dancing." She had meant for it to come out nonchalantly, but the tremble in her voice gave her away. His grin only grew wider and more catlike, if that was possible. Marinette stumbled a bit as Adrien pulled her closer. She muttered a curse and looked down at her feet, but her gaze was quickly brought back upwards when Adrien laid his forehead against hers. Marinette could feel her entire face heat up and felt it flush down her neck._ _

__"If we get run over, I'm blaming you." She grumbled, trying to distract herself from how green his eyes were._ _

__Adrien laughed._ _

__"I think I can live with that."_ _

__He was so close. She could feel his breath fan out across her lips. She swallowed hard. Adrien dipped down even farther until their noses rubbed together and their lips only centimeters apart._ _

__"Mari." He breathed. And she could almost feel his lips on hers. He was so close, just a little closer..._ _

__The song abruptly ended and a livelier one began. Adrien took a step back and gave her a small smile, the questions in his eyes mirrored in hers, before quickening their pace to match the jaunty tune._ _

__He spun her and he watched as she laughed out loud; her pink, off the shoulder sun dress, spinning with her; the tension that surrounding them only a moment ago, seemingly forgotten. Marinette shrieked as Adrien boosted her up into the air and begun spinning again. Laughing again, she threw her arms out and he continued to spin her until they were both dizzy. Both of them laughing and spinning and not really caring about what they actual steps were, they danced to two more songs before Adrien noticed the darkening sky (and his grumbling stomach)._ _

__"We should head back, Mari, its getting late." He said setting her down but letting his hands linger on her waist._ _

__"Ah, okay." She waved at the musicians and they grinned and waved back, whistling when Adrien took her hand._ _

__Adrien was already thinking of all the food that was waiting for him back in their hotel room. He was so distracted by the thought of simple carbs that he missed what Marinette said._ _

__"What was that?" He pulled himself from his food reverie._ _

__"Oh, I was just saying that there seems to be more lights on tonight. A lot more people too, and it seems that no matter where we are in the city, I can hear music. Is something going on?"_ _

__Adrien thought about it for a moment._ _

__"It's what, like June 23rd? Its probably the start of the LongLake Festival."_ _

__"What's the long lake festival?" Marinette asked curiously._ _

__"Its a big festival that goes from late June to the end of July," Adrien explained, "They do things like concerts, and arts and crafts and a bunch of other stuff too. I think they have about 500 events or so, each season. The events are pretty varied, but you can bet that on any night of the LongLake Festival there will be multiple concerts running."_ _

__"Really? And are all the bands local?" She followed up excitedly._ _

__"No, its a mix of local, regional, national and international," Adrien looked thoughtful before continuing, "When we used to come down here for vacation, I was never allowed to go see the concerts since most of them were late at night but I distinctly remember helping break open a llama pinata in the streets."_ _

__Adrien opened the door for Marinette as they reached the hotel._ _

__"A llama?" She asked in amusement as she went through the door._ _

__"Yup." He responded cheerfully. He intertwined his fingers with hers again as he stepped through the door to join her._ _

__Marinette chewed her lip as she looked up at him carefully._ _

__"Well, would you, that is you don't have to, especially since I've dragged you all around all day today, but if you want, do you, maybe, wanna go?"_ _

__"To what, the concerts?" He asked in surprise. He watched as she nodded. Adrien considered, he was a little tired but going to the concerts sounded like great fun, plus he could spend more time with her. "Yeah, lets go. After dinner, of course."_ _

__Marinette bounced up and down, and cheered. She dashed forward to press the button for the elevator, chattering excitedly all the time. Adrien watched her with a grin on his face and as the doors to the elevator opened, he gave a little bow._ _

__"You first, my lady."_ _

__Marinette hummed appreciatively._ _

__"You know, I like "my lady" much better than the bug themed nicknames." She looked up him impishly._ _

__"Don't come for my genius nicknames."_ _

__Marinette snorted in reply. A sassy reply dying on her lips as Adrien leaned down to whisper in her ear._ _

__"But, between you and me, I like "My Lady" better, too."_ _

__Marinette shivered as his breath ghosted in the shell of her ear. Her cheeks heating up, feeling the smirk on his features without even having to look._ _

__"Is it because it marks me as yours?" She wasn't sure where that bit of boldness came from, but as she was soon rewarded as she watched a deep flush crawl over Adrien's cheeks as she peeped up at him from under her lashes._ _

__*Ding*_ _

__The elevators doors opened and Marinette sauntered out of them._ _

__

__

__Adrien admired the hips swaying in denim that walked in front of him. A flush crept up his neck and cheeks as he bit his lip, trying desperately to tear his gaze away. But if he shifted his gaze down, there was skin. Long legs that seemed to go on for miles (strange for how short they were). And if he jerked his gaze upwards, more skin peeking out from where the tank top didn't quite meet the waistband of jean shorts. And if he shifted his gaze even further up, soft curves of cleavage peeking out of the low scoop neck of the fabric that covered them. And above that was the slight shadow of collar bones, the sloping of neck up to meet a jawline framed by pretty, dark curls and then it was pink rosy lips, shiny from lip balm and then pretty rosy cheeks and then...Adrien knew that if he stared into blue eyes, it'd all be over._ _

__"Adrien?" Marinette asked questioningly._ _

__Taking a big gulp of breath in, Adrien snapped his gaze up to the eyes that were looking at him over her shoulder and just for a second, let himself get lost._ _

__He let out a soft groan and drug the hand that wasn't in hers across his face as he blushed up to the roots of his hair._ _

__"Sorry." He mumbled, embarrassed at being caught at staring (read checking her out)._ _

__He watched as her lips curled into a smirk, looking like a cat who had stolen all the cream. He watched as her hair flounced with her as she turned back to face the direction she was walking._ _

__He groaned internally, both cursing and praising any and every god that ever allowed a tempest like Marinette to walk the earth._ _

__They made it down to the waterfront where bright lights were flashing and you could feel the beat rather than hear it. The actual band was playing on a makeshift stage that stood on the sand. Marinette immediately threw herself at the squirming mass of people swaying in time on the music, hauling Adrien with her. Adrien tightened his grip on her hand and let his other hand come up to grip her waist, trying to ensure that he wouldn't loose the petite mass of energy in the crowd. They finally got to a place where Marinette was satisfied that they were close enough to see the band playing on the stage, but not so close that they would lose all their hearing for the next two weeks. Adrien watched as she started to dance, placing both hands on her waist as her hands came up to mimic the rest of the crowd. He found himself slowly relaxing and being drawn into the excitement by the dancing bodies surrounding him. He began to allow himself to be swept up in the music and began swaying in time of Marinette's hips._ _

__Adrien didn't know how long they had been there (watching Marinette's hips was a bit mesmerizing and dizzying) but it had been enough time that he startled when Marinette spun around and threw her arms around his neck. Bright blue eyes gleaming up at him and he watched rather then heard her lips say his name. Breathing out a heavy sigh, he leaned his forehead against hers and wrapped his arms around her. _This isn't fair,_ he thought. _It isn't **fair** that she's so pretty and this close and she's looking at me like that with her big blue eyes. It isn't fair that she fits so perfectly in my arms and it isn't fair that I just want to k...__ _

__Someone jostled them, and their eye contact broke. Adrien breathed another sigh, straightening up before Marinette motioned towards the the street away from the stage. His hand dropping to take her hand, he let her lead him out of the crowd. Adrien's eyes widened as he saw the amount of people still littered in the space between the large throng of concert goers and the street. Suddenly, Adrien began to feel the day begin to wear on him and realized how much his feet hurt. Adrien scanned the street for an unoccupied bench, but when finding none he lead Marinette to a wide wooden post dividing the sidewalk and the sand they were currently standing on, in a less populated area. He leaned against it before tugging Marinette's hips closer from where she stood a few inches away. He wrapped his arms around her and let his head rest lightly against her abdomen. Humming happily, he didn't see her smile fondly down at him and begin to play with his hair. They stayed like that for a while, letting their hearing return to normal, and just enjoying one anothers company._ _

__"You good?" Marinette asked and felt Adrien nod against her stomach. She pushed away from him slightly and he loosened his arms immediately, ready to drop them at a single word from her. But she merely pulled far enough away to turn to the front before settling back in his lap. Taking his hands, she wrapped them around her waist again, inadvertently reassuring him that the contact was okay. He tightened his grip and buried his face into her hair as Marinette fiddled with her cell phone._ _

__"Adrien would you mind if we took a picture real quick?" she asked still fiddling with her phone and he realized it was more out of nervousness rather than trying to get it to do what she wanted. He squeezed her waist before one hand come up and push her hair behind her ear._ _

__"Of course." He murmured into her newly exposed ear, delighted as he watched a flush rise to her cheeks._ _

__"Okay Smile!" She said as she held up the phone and Adrien looked up and grinned. But right before she snapped the picture, Marinette sucked in a deep breath before turning her head and pressing a kiss to his cheek._ _

__*click**click**click*_ _

__Adrien didn't need to see the pictures to know exactly how they came out. The first one would have him with an awestruck expression, the second with his cheeks as red as a firetruck, and the third with Marinette's lips curling into a smile against his cheek as she felt his cheeks jump into a smile._ _

__She pulled back and began going through the pictures and Adrien settled back to where he was resting on her shoulder but neither one of them could wipe the grins that still lit up their faces._ _

__"Do you wanna continue concert hopping." Adrien murmured into her ear, liking the effect of her cheeks lighting up whenever his lips brushed against her ear._ _

__Marinette shifted a bit to be able to look at him. Even with the brilliant smile on his face, she noticed how Adrien's eyelids were drooping a bit. She smiled up at him._ _

__"I'm kinda tired, let's go ahead and call it a night."_ _

__"If you're sure." Adrien shrugged. They left their make shift seat and began to wander down the streets in the direction in which they came. Nearing the hotel, they passed by the musicians they passed earlier playing a slow tune. Marinette paused. Adrien turned, the question on his lips dying when he saw Marinette beaming up at him with a smile that could split the sky._ _

__"Hey, Adrien, dance with me?" She asked quietly, still smiling._ _

__Adrien stood starstruck for a moment before regaining his bearings enough to return her grin. He chuckled before taking her hand and beginning a waltz, continuing where they had left off earlier as if they were never interrupted. After a minute of grinning at each other and giggling like school girls, Marinette took a deep breath and moved to wrap her hands around his neck. Adrien looked at her questioningly but his hands immediately came to circle her waist and slow them to a simple sway. She stretched up her neck and using one of her hands, she put light pressure on the back of his neck so that their foreheads met. A position that they had been in too many times today. Both feeling the others breath against their lips. Both seemed to take a breath at the same time. Both feeling that time seemed to slow down for just a few moments._ _

__Their swaying slowed and eventually stopped all together. Adrien brought a hand up to Marinette's cheek. He lightly let his thumb stroke the skin beneath it and neither of them breathed. Adrien watched as Marinette's eyes fluttered close as he leaned down and pressed his lips against her lightly. After realized she wasn't pulling back, he pressed his lips against hers a bit harder. He drew back just far enough to whisper her name before drawing her even closer and slating his lips across hers. He let his hands tangle in her hair as he deepened the kiss gently._ _

__When Adrien finally pulled back, he didn't go far. Everything touching but their lips, Adrien kept his eyes closed and relished in the feeling of Marinette's lips against his. On impulse, he leaned in and captured her lips again, sucking her bottom lip in between his lips slightly, his heart (if it was indeed beating at all) skipped a beat as he heard her suck in a breath and press against his lips a bit more forcefully._ _

__They broke away when they heard clapping behind them, and turned sheepishly to see the musicians cheering. Marinette squeaked and buried her head in his chest and Adrien felt his own cheeks burn. He untangled his hands from her hair to wrap around her and gently rub her upper back. He felt her arms wrap around his waist, her hands bunching in the fabric. As the band started up another song, they began to sway to the music, both content to stay in each others arms for a little while longer._ _

__

__Later that night, as Adrien lay awake replaying the moment in his mind over and over again, he couldn't help but wonder at the rightness of it all. It felt right to hold Marinette's hand, to kiss her, to lie beside her every night, to share the rest of his life with her. He glanced down as Marinette shifted in her position of laying on his chest. His arm came to wrap around her tighter and gently rub circles against her waist where his hand rested. He watched as she settled again but continued the circles as he thought. His mind floated with what ifs and whys, but he couldn't seem to make sense of any of it. He couldn't explain the feeling of rightness, the feeling of happiness that had began to worm its way into his heart. He glanced down again at the dark haired minx that laid in his arms snoring slightly and pressed a soft kiss to her hair before letting a smile split his face._ _

___Maybe...just maybe..._ He contemplated as he drifted off the sleep._ _

__Maybe this was what was meant to be._ _

__

__*Bonus*_ _

__Marinette and Adrien unwrapping their chocolate ladybugs;_ _

__Adrien: "So which part of the ladybug should we eat first?"_ _

__Marinette: "Well, obviously you have to bite its head off."_ _

__Adrien: *taking two large steps away from Marinette*_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Wow, guy's its been a hot minute, but this chapter was really long so I hope it makes up for it. But seriously this chapter was long, we broke 5k words for this one! This chapter was pretty much pure fluff (your welcome), next we have the finally day in Lugano and in chapters coming up Nino and Alya will be making an appearance! I hope you guys enjoy all of this fluff, because after this its back to the normally scheduled angst. I have a big chapter of pure angst planned so look out for that. I've left some explanations of some of the locations that were mentioned in this chapter down below in case you were confused at all, and let this be a reminder that I have never been to Lugano, Switzerland but I did try and portray it accurately! As always I love all of you guy's comments, I do read them all even if I can't respond to them all. That reminds me, idk if you guys noticed but I changed both my profile picture and handle on both here and Wattpad so it should be Kailyrnew on both, just so you know. 
> 
> Love always, 
> 
> Kaily
> 
>  
> 
> Places/Locations
> 
> Palazzo Civico--city hall that stands in a popular piazza in Lugano 
> 
> Grand Cafe Al Porto-- Cafe, that was a medieval convent built in 1803 and the interior is still the same 
> 
> Gioielleria Prezios --jewelry shop 
> 
> Gucci haute couture shops (Gucci, Hermes, Jil Sander) 
> 
> Via Nassa--intersection, near Lugano tourist office, where a lot of high end clothing shops and boutiques are located. 
> 
> Emerold board shop--clothing shop, decent prices
> 
> S2--clothing boutique 
> 
> Il cappello--custom made clothing shop
> 
> El catto--boutique
> 
> Laderach Chocolaterie SuisseSwiss chocolate shop - slightly pricey! Smack in the middle of the city centre near Lugano train station. They will allow you to sample the bark.


End file.
